Goodbye to Gunny: LMPD's sniper team leader retires after 42 years of service

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- For more than four decades, he has dedicated his life to serving his country with the U.S. Marine Corps and as a police officer.

You've probably never met him, but John Seymour, otherwise known as "Gunny," has been watching over Louisville for years. 

He's the sniper team leader for the Louisville Metro Police Department's SWAT team, and his colleagues on the team have nothing but good things to say about him:

And Tracy Seymour, Gunny's wife, said she can sum up his life in seven words.

"Failure is not part of his vocabulary," she said.

From the rooftop of Churchill Downs, Gunny surveyed the area from his regular perch. 

"You can see it all. You can see it all from here," Gunny said. "Most people don't know we're up here. Most people don't look up."

From bridges and rooftops all over the city, his focus has been keeping Louisville residents safe.

"You watch their area, just kind of watch their back," Gunny said.

Gunny is such a legend that many don't even know his real name — including his colleagues at LMPD.

"I had probably been on the team nine months, and they said 'Seymour,'" Rausch said. "I was like, Who is Seymour?'"

John Seymour has been a police officer in Louisville for 21 years. He joined SWAT in 2001.

"I know the operations I've been on with Gunny when he's there, there's just kind of this sense of calm, because even if I'm not sure what's going on, Gunny would always kind of whisper to you, 'Go do this,'" Rausch said.

His buddies say he's a humble man of few words, but when he speaks, everyone listens.

"You know that things are going to be done the right way when you're with him," Haight said.

As if his police work wasn't enough, he was a gunnery sergeant in the U.S. Marine Corps. That's where "Gunny" came from, and the nickname stuck.

He gave 21 years to his country as a Marine before becoming a police officer. While at Fort Knox for a short time for training, he met his wife Tracy.

Now, after a collective 42 years of service, he's retiring.

"The younger guys on the team are going to miss out on a guy that has that vast experience, that knowledge," Pearson said.

It was a decision that didn't come easy.

"He absolutely, 100 percent looks at the SWAT team as family," Kitchen said. "We're his brothers, and that is him. He doesn't want the recognition. He doesn't want the medals. He doesn't want this story. He doesn't feel like he's deserved. Where the rest of us stand back and say, 'Oh you're more deserving.' He's someone special to us."

But Tracy, Seymour's wife, said she's quietly happy he's retiring.

"I'm glad to have him out of harms way, and for selfish reasons, to have him home," she said. 

Thinking of their life together and their sons, Tracy said he's a constant source of pride.

"I probably can't talk about it without crying," she said, tearing up. "Yeah, he's a great guy."

Gunny has three sons: one who lives out-of-state and two twin boys.

"How proud are you of your dad?" WDRB News asked the twins.

"Very," Ben Seymour said.

"Very," Josh Seymour. "Most of his life is service to the city here and to the country. It's very ... it's ... I'm proud."

"If the boys turn out to be half the man he is, then they will be very good men," Tracy said.

This new chapter for Gunny will be filled with what's most important in life.

"And that was his family back home," Haight said. "And he instilled that in everybody. He said you got to know that this job: You can love it as much as you want, but it's not going to love you back. The people at home will."

So his SWAT buddies carrying on after him will have some tough shoes to fill.

"Impossible," Kitchen said. "I mean, there's no replacing Gunny."

"It was just my honor to be there with him," Haight said.

"It will definitely be a big void to fill," Rausch said.

"He's dedicated his life to service," Humphrey said. "Plain and simple."

Gunny's last day is Friday, May 31.

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