Shelbyville - Officers in Shelbyville are mourning the loss of one of their own.
Sergeant Gary Henderson, a 51-year-old Shelbyville police officer and 29-year veteran, was killed when he was struck by truck tires as he was assisting in a traffic stop along Interstate 74.
The officer was assisting Shelby County Sheriff's deputies in a traffic stop on an I-74 entrance ramp about 20 miles southeast of Indianapolis about 11:30 Wednesday night. Sheriff's deputies say a set of rear dual tires and wheels came off a passing semi and struck the officer.
"Two juveniles had stolen a car. Gary had [gone] up to photograph the vehicle. At that time the rear wheels became dislodged from the semi, killing him instantaneously," said Bill Elliott, Shelbyville chief of police. "The way things happened; the chance was one in a million."
According to the police chief, the semi had changed lanes and was starting to slow down when the wheels came loose. The driver, a trucker from Berwyn, Illinois who was headed from Kentucky to Chicago, did not realize that his wheels had become dislodged. He is cooperating with police.
As the dawn broke in Shelbyville residents awoke to find flags in the city at half-staff. Flowers where the accident took place were put there by a man who at the time said he didn't even know who had lost his life there.
"This is a small community and we know our everyday heroes are our police officers and firefighters and losing one is like losing a brother," said Scott Spahr.
Chief Elliott added that the accident happened when Sergeant Henderson only had 20 minutes left on his shift.
Sergeant Henderson was married with one son, who serves on Shelbyville's reserve police force. It is the first time an officer has been killed in the line of duty on the Shelbyville police force. Sergeant Henderson's squad car, now adorned in black, sits unoccupied in front of the Shelby County Criminal Justice Center. Friends and even some family members stopped by to see the tribute, read the cards and mourn.
Chief Elliott told Eyewitness News that an autopsy was conducted in Cincinnati and Sergeant Henderson's body was escorted back to Shelbyville.
The two suspects in the car were taken to the Johnson County Juvenile Detention Facility. They are described as young teenagers.
Terri Kuhn stopped by to get information about her 13-year-old son who she says was one of the two juveniles in the allegedly stolen car.
"That makes me feel real guilty inside to know there is a family now at a loss because of two children who have no idea what they have caused. No idea," she said.
Sergeant Henderson was a Shelbyville High School graduate. Chief Elliott called him a "good father," and said that dealing with the loss would be a "long process."
Shelbyville is a town mired in mourning and for some mired in guilt that will soon give way to questions about how two juveniles escaped 30-day emergency care and how two wheels would come off a semi truck, all adding up to the loss of one life.
Viewing for Sergeant Henderson will take place from 2-8 p.m. Sunday at the Shelbyville High School auditorium.
The funeral service is also at the high school. It takes place Monday at 11:00 a.m. Burial will follow at the Forest Hills cemetery in Shelbyville.
This story has been compiled from reports by Cat Andersen and Kevin Rader.
