Atlanta Police Department, Georgia
End of Watch Saturday, November 3, 2012
Add to My HeroesShawn Antonio Smiley
Police Officers Shawn Smiley and Richard Halford were killed in a helicopter crash while assisting in the search for a missing 9-year-old boy at approximately 10:30 pm.
They were flying low over an area approximately four miles west of downtown when the Hughes OH-6A helicopter suddenly crashed to the ground near the intersection of Martin Luther King Jr. Drive and Hamilton E. Holmes Drive. The helicopter exploded after impacting the ground. The cause of the crash is under investigation by the NTSB and FAA.
The boy they were searching for was found safe a short time later.
Officer Smiley was a U.S. Navy veteran and had served with the Atlanta Police Department for two years and had been assigned as a tactical flight officer in the Air Unit for one year. He is survived by his wife and three children.
Bio
- Age 40
- Tour 2 years
- Badge 6635
- Military Veteran
Incident Details
- Cause Aircraft accident
Related LODD Deaths
Police Officer Richard Joseph Halford
Atlanta Police Department, GA
EOW: November 3, 2012
Most Recent Reflection
View all 167 ReflectionsI met Shawn on the bus in our sixth grade year in Savannah. I don't know what made me remember his name all these years later, but I just looked him up. I never knew he became a man with such a noble profession, and I'm saddened to learn of his passing. Rest peacefully Shawn.
Jeff Babcock
School Friend
January 6, 2019
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