A Johnson County deputy who was in training at the Indiana Law Enforcement Academy was found dead Tuesday morning.
Academy recruits found Tim Guyer, a 49-year-old resident of Trafalgar, unresponsive in his dormitory at the ILEA in Plainfield after he did not report to breakfast Tuesday morning. Recruits performing life-saving measures, but medics later pronounced him dead at the academy, ILEA executive director Tim Horty said at a Tuesday afternoon press conference.
The ILEA suspended classes for the rest of the day Tuesday, and will have grief counselors available for recruits, Horty said.
Guyer leaves behind a wife and four children, said Major Andy Fisher, road division commander of the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office.
“We are heartbroken beyond words,” Fisher said.
The Indiana State Police is investigating Guyer’s death. There are still a lot of questions, but the death appears to be from a medical issue of some kind, said Sgt. John Perrine, an ISP spokesperson.
Two things are for sure though: there was no accident involved in the death and foul play is not suspected, Perrine said. ISP investigators are working closely with Hendrick’s County Coroner’s Office to determine his cause of death, he said.
A lifelong Johnson County resident and businessman, Guyer was also a building inspector for several towns in Johnson County and owned a construction company.
Officials in the town of Trafalgar have offered their condolences to Guyer’s family. Guyer was a contracted employee of the town, and town officials thanked him for his years of service in Facebook posts Tuesday.
“Tim was a man of so many things. Family, faith, community, work, and following his dreams,” Town Council Vice President Jessica Jones said in a Facebook post.
Town Council President Jason Ramey asked people to keep Guyer’s family in their thoughts and prayers over the next several days.
Guyer was sworn in as a Johnson County Sheriff’s Office recruit in December 2022. He was set to graduate from the academy two weeks from now and join the sheriff’s office as a merit deputy, Fisher said.
From his interview for the job and his work at the academy it was clear he was ready and excited to take on the job, said Duane Burgess, Johnson County sheriff. Guyer had never done police work before but felt called to take on the job, Burgess said.
Guyer was close friends with several other deputies, and they helped him guide his way through the application process and his ultimate hiring, Fisher said. Guyer was at the academy to fulfill a dream of his, Fisher said.
“This is a sad day, but Tim was also doing exactly what he wanted to do, and that was trying to fulfill the dream and being a deputy for us,” he said.
Guyer was a servant leader who had a passion for giving back in different ways, including as an assistant football coach for Indian Creek, Burgess said. Faith, family, coaching and law enforcement were important to him, but family was No. 1, he said.
“You could see the sparkle in his eyes and the happiness of being with his family,” Burgess said, remembering seeing Guyer this year at the Johnson County fair with his family.
The sheriff’s office and Johnson County Fraternal Order of Police will be by his family’s side as they go through this tough time, he said.
“We are going to be there as the sheriff’s department because he is part of our family,” Burgess said. “We are going to honor him the best way we can.”
Guyer’s car is being displayed at the sheriff’s office, 1091 Hospital Road, Franklin. The public is welcome to come by to leave their sympathies and remembrances for the family, Burgess said.
The deputy’s death marks the second time a law enforcement officer from Johnson County has died in the past two months. ISP Trooper Aaron Smith, of Franklin, was killed on June 28 in Plainfield while trying to deploy stop sticks in the pursuit of a stolen vehicle.
Editor Leeann Doerflein contributed to this report.
