COLUMBUS – A Columbus SWAT officer is being remembered by colleagues as a “dearly beloved brother” officer.
Officer Steven Smith died late yesterday afternoon, surrounded by his family, two days after being shot by a man who opened fire on a SWAT team trying to arrest him on the North Side, police spokesman Sgt. Rich Weiner said.
Smith, 54, died at 4:56 p.m. at OSU Wexner Medical Center, leaving behind his wife of 32 years, Lisa, and two adult children, Weiner 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,” Mayor Andrew Ginther said in a statement. “His passing will leave a void in the hearts of many.”
Smith was a 27-year veteran who served in the division’s Patrol Bureau, Strategic Response Bureau, Helicopter Unit, Narcotics Bureau, SWAT Unit and was a member of the Dive Team, Weiner said.
He is the 54th Columbus police officer killed in the line of duty since 1816 and the 31st officer killed in the line of duty in the U.S. this year.
Weiner says as many as eight people may be helped by Smith’s donated organs.
Lincoln Rutledge, the 44-year-old man accused of shooting Smith, remains jailed without bond on charges including felonious assault.