Roll of Honor
Incident
Officer John Springer died after he fell from a railroad bridge while on patrol. Officers Springer and Coyle were on patrol at the Union depot, when Officer Springer left the depot to check the Monon Railroad crossing of the Big Four tracks at 1:00 am. Approximately an hour later, when Officer Springer had not returned to the depot, Officer Coyle blew his patrol whistle to try to contact Officer Springer with no success. When Officer Coyle and Captain Rinard went to look for Officer Springer, he was found at 2:30 am near the Monon rail bridge were it appeared he had fallen from the bridge and died from a crushed skull. Officer Springer had served with the agency for four years.
In Our Keeping
- Permanent identifier
BO-US-IN-22805B9F- Stewardship
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- Added to badge.nw
- April 2, 2026
- Last updated
- July 23, 2026
Honored here by 1 sentinel - 1 tribute.
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Tributes
133 years is a long time for a name to go unread. Not today.
Officer Springer gave the Lafayette Police Department 4 years.
Thank you for your service to the Lafayette community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993
Agency
Service Record
Incident Details
Officer John Springer is one of 10,088 officers lost to accidents in the line of duty across the full record of this memorial — 31% of all 32,508 officers honored here.
In IN, 151 of 503 officers were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 30% of this state's fallen. That is 1 percentage points below the national rate of 31%.
At Lafayette Police Department, 1 of 4 officers on record were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 25% of this agency's fallen.
National Cause Distribution
How Accident compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. John Springer's cause is highlighted.
How John Springer Compares
When Accident Deaths Occur
Monthly distribution of Accident deaths across the full memorial record. John Springer is highlighted in Sep.
Others Who Wore This Badge
3 officers from Lafayette Police Department are honored on badge.nw.
