Evansville Police Officer Kyle Thiry has been selected as the 2018 SWAT Officer of the Year by the Indiana SWAT Officers Association.  Officer Thiry received the award during a ceremony in Indianapolis on Tuesday night. Officer Thiry was selected for the award based on his actions during an active shooter event in the 2400 block of N. Kentucky Ave on May 5^th, 2018.

During the incident, a gunman fired multiple shots at police officers who had responded to a shots fired call. Officer Thiry responded to scene after hearing radio traffic from fellow officers calling for assistance. 

Officer Thiry was able to position himself near the scene and eventually spotted the armed gunman. Officer Thiry fired two rounds at the suspect from a distance of 65 yards away. Both rounds struck the suspect and ended the incident. 

During the incident, one civilian was killed by the gunman. Several law enforcement vehicles were damaged by gunfire. Multiple police officers and deputies were targeted, but no law enforcement officials were injured. 

Officer Thiry also received the Gold Merit Award from the Evansville Police Merit Commission for his actions during this incident. 

Officer Thiry is an 8 year veteran of the Evansville Police Department. He has previously been recognized for his actions that saved the life of a child who had been struck by a car and his actions when he provided medical care to an off-duty DEA agent who had been seriously injured in a motorcycle crash. 

The Southwest Indiana Chamber Posey Co. Office will host the Report to the Posey County Business Community from 5:30 to 7:30 pm at New Harmony Conference Center on May 1, 2019.

Join us for a highlight of recent business impacts made in the Posey County community and for a celebration of 2019 Posey County award recipients. Awards will be given in the categories of Teacher/Administrator of the Year, Young Professional of the Year, Business Person of the Year and Business of the Year. Keynote Speaker for this event is Dave Richardson, General Manager, BWXT Nuclear Operations.

Gold sponsor: Warehouse Services, Inc.; Silver Sponsors: BWX Technologies, Old National Bank and Valero Registration for this event is at https://members.swinchamber.com/events/details/2019-re-

port-to-the-posey-county-business-community-4531

For more information on this event, contact: Randy Owens, Posey County Office Director, at 812-838-3639 or rowens@swinchamber.com.

About Southwest Indiana Chamber

Since 1915, the Southwest Indiana Chamber has been a trusted ally of the regional business community. Today we are one of the state’s largest, strongest, and most impactful nonprofit business organizations, representing a total membership of more than 1,400 businesses, organizations, and agencies. About one-third of members have invested in our organization for 10 or more years. While nearly all major employers in our region invest in the Southwest Indiana Chamber, 71% of our member businesses have 25 or fewer employees.

Learn more about the Chamber, our members, and the Southwest Indiana regional business community at www.swinchamber.com. 318 Main St., Suite 401, Evansville, IN 47708. Posey County Office: 231A Main Street, PO Box 633, Mt. Vernon, IN 47620, 812-838-3639

Troopers from the Indiana State Police concentrated their enforcement efforts last week on catching those drivers who fail to slow down and move over for emergency vehicles. The effort was coordinated with state police agencies from five other states, Kentucky, Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania and West Virginia.

With the increase in construction zones this was an opportune time to utilize special patrols not only to find those drivers who violate the law, but to educate the public on the importance of slowing down and moving over for emergency vehicles. Troopers concentrated efforts on all emergency vehicles, including construction vehicles, fire trucks, ambulances, police vehicles, maintenance crews, and roadside service crews.

The results of the efforts are in the chart below.

Original news release explaining the project is below:

Indiana – We’ve all heard about it before; the Move Over Law.  In 1999 Indiana was the first State in the nation to pass such a law requiring motorists to move to an adjacent traffic lane, or reduce speed by 10 mph below the posted speed limit if unable to change lanes safely when driving by a stationary police, fire or ambulance emergency vehicle stopped along the side of the road.  Over the years Indiana’s law has expanded to include stationary recovery, utility service, solid waste haulers, road, street highway maintenance vehicles, as well as a stationary survey or construction vehicles when displaying alternately flashing amber lights. Indiana’s law was originally crafted and passed the result of the death of ISP Tpr. Andrew Winzenread who was killed in April of 1997 while assisting a stranded motorist on I-74 in Dearborn County.  Now, in 2019, every state, with the exception of Hawaii has some form of a move-over-law. But we all know laws are only effective when followed.  In Indiana we still have too many emergency vehicles being struck by inattentive or distracted motorists.  And in neighboring Illinois, three state troopers have been struck and killed since the beginning of 2019. As part of a joint ‘Move Over Law’ traffic enforcement project Indiana will be working with our ‘Six State Trooper’ law enforcement partners in Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia during the week of April 14th through the 20th.  During this time motorists can expect to see additional patrols looking for distracted driving violations which often lead to motorists failing to move over when they approach an emergency vehicle stopped roadside or at a crash scene.  Some violations associated with Driving While Distracted include speeding, following too close, drifting from lane to lane and failing to signal turns or lane changes. It is not the goal of the Indiana State Police to simply write tickets.  We encourage and desire voluntary compliance with traffic laws to ensure the safety of the public as well as the safety of public safety professionals.  Our historical enforcement of the move over law reveals about 50% of persons stopped for this violation receive a written warning, but citations are issued for particularly egregious violations of the law. To learn more about Move Over Laws in other States, visit this site: https://www.moveoveramerica.com/

Tickets and Warnings Issued for Violation of Indiana’s Move Over Law

Indiana State Police Vehicles Struck When Not in Motion

Crashes of a Parked Police Vehicle from ANY Indiana Police Agency

On April 25, 1997 while patrolling I-74 in Decatur County, Trooper Winzenread stopped to assist a motorist who had run out of gas. Returning to the stranded vehicle after getting gas, Trooper Winzenread exited his patrol car and was struck by an oncoming semi-tractor trailer. Trooper Winzenread died at the scene.