Overview
- Officers near Woodworth, North Dakota, responded to a report that a hunter’s kayak had tipped, and Gwathney was later pronounced dead at a hospital due to drowning.
- The Sevier County native served with the Knoxville Police Department since 1997 and was promoted to lieutenant in 2010.
- He was widely known as “Officer G,” became the first student resource officer at Austin-East High School, and was celebrated for mentoring young people.
- Chief Paul Noel described the death as an incomprehensible loss, and Mayor Indya Kincannon praised his community-first approach to policing.
- A community vigil is planned for Thursday at 6:30 p.m. at the Phyllis Wheatly Center, and KPD publicly thanked North Dakota agencies that responded.