Columbus police SWAT Officer Steven M. Smith had one final act of service. He donated his organs, giving life to up to eight people.
Smith died Tuesday evening, two days after he was shot in the head while SWAT officers tried to serve a warrant on a man who had barricaded himself in his Clintonville home. Columbus police say that Smith, 54, died just before 5 p.m. at Ohio State's Wexner Medical Center, surrounded by his family.
He had been with the Columbus Police Division for 27 years, serving on the SWAT team, helicopter unit, narcotics bureau and dive team, among others.
"He lived life 100 percent and 100 miles per hour," said police Chief Kim Jacobs. "He got more out of it then most people ever will." Funeral arrangements, Jacobs said, are pending.
Smith is survived by his wife of 32 years, Lisa Smith; a son, Jesse, and a daughter, Brittany.
The man accused of shooting Smith, Lincoln Rutledge, appeared in court earlier on Tuesday, his eyes downcast and his hands cuffed.
Rutledge, 44, is being held without bond. Franklin County Municipal Court Judge Jim O'Grady said he agreed with a motion made by Prosecutor Ron O'Brien that Rutledge should not be afforded the chance to bond out of the Downtown jail while he awaits trial.
"I don't feel that there are conditions of release that will ensure the safety of the public," O'Grady said.
Rutledge said nothing during his brief court appearance on a charge of felonious assault. That was before Smith died; homicide charges are expected to be filed since the death, but that hadn't yet occurred late Tuesday.
Rutledge also has been charged with arson, which accuses him of setting fire to his ex-wife's home Saturday morning. It was that warrant that SWAT officers were attempting to serve on Rutledge about 13 hours later when they became enmeshed in a standoff with him at his apartment on California Avenue in Clintonville.
Rutledge shot at SWAT officers approaching in an armored vehicle, and one of the bullets struck Smith in his head, detective Anne Pennington testified in court on Tuesday. Pennington is a homicide detective and a member of the Division's Critical Incident Response Team, which is made up of veteran homicide detectives who investigate high-profile incidents such as police-involved shootings and in-custody deaths.
Pennington said witnesses placed Rutledge at the scene of the earlier fire, that he had threatened to harm his estranged wife, and that he left Ohio after learning of a judge's probate order in March that his mental health be assessed.
O'Brien said after the hearing that Rutledge eventually turned up in Missouri in late March, where he has family. Officers there spoke to him but had no cause to arrest him, and he did not face any felonies in Ohio that could have resulted in his extradition. Ultimately, O'Brien said, he came back to Ohio on his own.
Family and co-workers of Rutledge's reported to police in recent weeks that his mental state had deteriorated markedly. He resigned on April 3 from his $87,000-a-year job as an IT security engineer at Ohio State University, a few weeks after OSU had cut off his access to the university's buildings and computer systems due to his increasingly erratic behavior since taking personal leave on Feb. 1. One co-worker said he became more troubled when he and his wife separated in August.
Mayor Andrew J. Ginther issued a statement after Smith's death.
"I am filled with sorrow at the passing of Officer Smith," Ginther said. "He was a decorated police officer with a strong sense of what is right and wrong, and who chose to take on some of the most challenging and dangerous assignments in an effort to uphold the law, support his fellow officers and protect the public from those intent on causing harm. He was also a dedicated husband, father, brother, son and friend.
"His passing will leave a void in the hearts of many, and his service to residents of Columbus will be sorely missed. I offer my deepest condolences to his family, and on behalf of a grateful City, I extend our sincere thanks for his 27 years of dedicated service and sacrifice for the residents of Columbus.”
Copyright 2016 The Columbus Dispatch, Ohio
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