Second slain officer’s funeral to be Wednesday

Three days after his best friend’s funeral, the second officer killed in a double shooting in Americus last week will be laid to rest Wednesday, GBI officials said.

Services for Georgia Southwestern State University Officer Jody Smith will take place at the school’s Student Success Center Storm Dome at 11 a.m.

A brief memorial took place at 11:45 a.m. Monday as Smith’s body was taken through the campus.

Smith and his best friend, Americus police Officer Nicholas Smarr, were killed while responding to a domestic disturbance call on Dec. 7. After exchanging gunfire with the suspect, the two were found dead.

The shooter, Minquell Kennedy Lembrick, took his life Thursday after an intense manhunt, authorities said.

Smarr’s funeral services were Sunday. Speaking at the funeral, Americus Police Chief Mark Scott said that you could tell Smith and Smarr were best friends because they took pleasure in posting embarrassing photos of each other on Facebook.

He also recalled how Smarr, after he was shot, died performing CPR on his wounded friend. They were found together when police arrived, he said.

Smarr was the sixth law enforcement officer fatally shot in Georgia this year, double the total killed by guns in the previous two years combined. When Smith died the following day, he became the seventh officer killed by gunfire in 2016.

There has been a 66 percent increase nationwide in the fatal shootings of officers from this same time in 2015, said Steve Groeninger of the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund. So far 64 officers have been gunned down in the line of duty this year. No more than 50 officers have been fatally shot in one year since 2011.