John Perry retired from the New York Police Department on the morning of September 11 and was the only off-duty officer from that force to perish in the attacks. He had arrived at headquarters to turn in his identification when the first plane struck the World Trade Center.

Perry then recovered his badge, put on a police shirt, and traveled to the complex. Observers noted him for the final time inside the north building’s ground floor, where he supported a woman in chest pain, coinciding with the collapse of the south building.