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Alexandria police officers gathered in Del Ray on March 22 to honor Charles W. “Charlie” Hill, the last department officer killed in the line of duty.

The annual event brought members of the law enforcement community to Charles W. Hill Park for a cleanup and beautification project in his memory.

“We’re here in memory of Charlie,” retired Alexandria Police Department detective Joe Morash said. “It’s so hard to think back on that day as it occurred, but it’s good to see everybody back together.”

Hill had served with Alexandria police for 13 years and was a member of its Special Operations Team. On March 22, 1989, he was home early and playing with his two sons when he was called to a hostage crisis in Old Town.

Jamie Wise, 34, had taken several people hostage in the 300 block of Hopkins Court while attempting to collect a drug debt. After a five-hour standoff, Wise emerged holding a sawed-off shotgun to a teenage hostage’s head.

A police sharpshooter shot Wise, but Wise fired two rounds. One fatally struck Hill, who had celebrated his 40th birthday a month earlier. The other severely wounded Hill’s partner, Officer Andrew Chelchowski.

Chelchowski later experienced post-traumatic stress disorder connected to the shooting. He died by suicide in 1993, four years after the standoff.

“We are here to remember Andy as well,” Morash said. “I think Charlie would have liked having everybody together here in his honor.”

Thirty-seven years after Hill’s death, the park cleanup continues to draw officers who never knew him personally.

“There are a lot of new guys here that didn’t even know Charlie,” Morash said. “That is a real testament to him and everyone that came after him.”