Police Officer Shawn Antonio Smiley, Atlanta Police Department, Georgia

Police Officer Shawn Antonio Smiley

Atlanta Police Department, Georgia

End of Watch Saturday, November 3, 2012

Shawn 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

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Most Recent Reflection

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I 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