SOUTHPORT, Ind. (WTHR) - The flags at the Lt. Aaron Allan Memorial in Southport flew at half-staff Monday, because another officer serving the small community on the south side of Indianapolis has died.
Southport Police Det. Sgt. Jason Swanson was found dead outside his car early Monday morning. Swanson wasn't on duty at the time and foul play is not suspected, but the small police department is in mourning again after a string of recent deaths.
Swanson was found dead outside his car at the entrance to Home City Ice near 21st Street and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Street around 3:45 a.m. Monday. The detective may have been working off-duty security overnight, but he was not working for Home City Ice. The Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department is investigating, but police believe Swanson may have suffered a medical emergency and died of natural causes.
"This is not something that you want to wake up to, hearing news of losing one of your very own officers," said Southport Police Department chaplain Sgt. Lossie Davis. "But at the same time, we can all get through this if we come together and work together."
Swanson is survived by two sons from a previous marriage. His wife, Charlotte, is also a Southport police officer.
"I know she's going to have some good days and some bad days," said Sgt. Davis. "But she's going to have us to see her through it and support her through it. I've had the opportunity of working with her as well. She's a great person - very pleasant, wonderful to work with. I know she's going to get through this with time."
Since Lt. Aaron Allan was shot and killed responding to a traffic accident in July 2017, Swanson becomes the fifth Southport police officer to die in a department with 43 officers. All but two of the officers, like Swanson, are reserve officers. The department is suffering emotionally and with a significant loss of manpower over the last 20 months.
"Death always leaves a heartache that no one can heal," said Sgt. Davis. "But love leaves a memory that no one can steal. So as a family as brothers and sisters in law enforcement, we all get through it together by supporting each other."
Swanson served with the Southport Police Department for four years.