Corporal Charles William Hill (Historical Marker)

Here follows the inscription written on this trailside historical marker:

Corporal Charles William Hill
1949-1989

Charles W. Hill was born on February 22, 1949, in Suffolk County, New York. Charlie, as he was known to his friends, grew up on Long Island where he met his wife, Virginia. They married in 1971. Charlie was hired as a New York City Police Officer soon after. The New York City Police Department had financial problems, so Charlie and Ginny moved to Virginia where Charlie became an Alexandria City Police Officer on August 2, 1976.

Corporal Hill served in different assignments throughout the 13 years he spent with the Alexandria Police Department. He was a Uniformed Division Patrol Officer, Identifications Technician, Field Training Officer, City Animal Shelter, Range Master, Firearms Instructor and Special Operations Team member. On January 6, 1982, Charlie was promoted to Corporal.

Bravery and the Ultimate Sacrifice
In the late afternoon of March 22, 1989, Corporal Hill was partnered with Officer Andrew (Andy) M. Chelchowski, when the Special Operations Team was called to assist with a hostage barricade incident at 316 Hopkins Court. A convicted felonious drug dealer had taken hostages and barricaded himself inside of the residence to collect a drug debt. Corporal Hill and Officer Chelchowski responded and were positioned just outside of the rear of 316 Hopkins Court.

At 6:35 pm, the felon emerged from the residence holding a sawed-off shotgun to a hostage's head. Even though a police sniper was able to mortally wound the felon, the felon was still able to fire two rounds striking both officers. Corporal Hill was taken to the Washington Hospital Center where he was pronounced dead at 8:15pm. Officer Chelchowski, though severely wounded, faced a difficult recovery.

Corporal Hill was a family man and known for his strong handshake, big grin and a great sense of humor. He was the Community Relations Liaison Officer for over seven years with the Del Ray Civic Association as well as a long time community member. Corporal Hill received many commendations from his supervisors and from members of the community he served. Corporal Hill was an expert with his revolver and received many Firearms Competition Awards throughout his career. Corporal Hill was President of the Virginia Police Revolver Association, an organization dedicated to promoting marksmanship and firearms training to officers.

Corporal Hill is survived by his wife Virginia and two sons, Charlie and Robert.

The Alexandria Police Firearms Training Range is named after Corporal Charles W. Hill.