Community Devastated After Fatal Shooting of Flagstaff Police Officer
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Inadvertently eclipsed by the funeral of NYPD Officer Rafael Ramos, tragedy struck once again at the heart of American law enforcement as another young officer was shot to death in Flagstaff, Arizona. Officer Tyler Stewart, 24, died as a result of his wounds at the Flagstaff Medical Center after being shot by a suspect in a domestic violence situation, confirms the FPD.
Officer Stewart had worked for FPD for a little less than a year, officially qualifying him as a “rookie, when he was gunned down about 1:30PM yesterday by Robert W. Smith, 28, of Prescott. The killer, after firing several shots at the hapless officer, shot himself and was pronounced dead at the scene.
Stewart himself was taken to the Flagstaff Medical Center in critical condition where he later died. He was a graduate of Boulder Creek High School in Anthem, Arizona, and Concordia College in California.
The Associated Press reported that Flagstaff police were looking for another person involved in the domestic violence case.
Chief Kevin Treadway said in a statement:
This is an enormous tragedy for our department and the family of our Officer. We are a very close knit organization, and know that all members of the Flagstaff Police Department are grieving at this time. With that being said, all of the men and women of the Flagstaff Police Department extend our prayers and condolences to the family of our Officer Tyler Stewart.
Mayor Jerry Nabours said:
It is heartbreaking to lose one of our officers. We collectively mourn for his family and the entire department.
The shooting was the second one of a police officer in northern Arizona in the past three months. In October, a tribal police officer of the Navajo Nation was shot in the face during a shootout with a male suspect in the town of Kaibeto, which is 75 miles north of Flagstaff. The officer survived.
A candlelight vigil is being held this evening in Flagstaff, a community devastated by this tragedy, and one which hasn’t seen police-community hostility like so many other cities and towns across the nation. Details of his funeral and other final arrangements have not yet been made available.
The Associated Press contributed to this report as did my friend Peggy Roche.
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I think most police officers will agree. Domestic disputes can be on of the most dangerous of all calls.
Despite living for 25 years in AZ, I had never heard anything negative about the FPD. That really says it all.
I also haven’t heard one bad word about FPD, and you are right about domestic disputes. While answering my very first one, as a rookie cop, I had a double barreled shotgun stuck in my face by the drunk male aggressor.