Authorities: 1 officer killed, 1 wounded; shooter at large
AMERICUS, Ga. — A man fatally shot one Georgia police officer and wounded a second before fleeing an apartment complex near a college campus that went on lockdown as a precaution, authorities said. They said the suspect is believed to be armed and dangerous.
The shooting took place when the two officers were responding to a domestic dispute in Americus, about 130 miles south of Atlanta, Americus police Chief Mark Scott said.
Americus police Officer Nicholas Smarr, 25, died and Georgia Southwestern State University Officer Jodi Smith was airlifted to a hospital in critical condition, Scott said. Both had been officers since 2012.
“It’s a tremendous loss to our family,” Scott said of Smarr’s death. “It’s a tragedy beyond words. One of our family members has been taken from us.”