Shawn Antonio Smiley served in the U.S. Navy for 3 years and 3 months.
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.
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In tribute
I served 1985 to 1993. You served too, before the badge - different uniform, same idea. You go where you are sent and you do not get to pick the call.
Police Officer Smiley gave the Atlanta Police Department 2 years.
Thank you for your service to the Atlanta community. Thank you for your service before it. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, brother.
— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993
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