Richard Wellington Smith.
Police Officer Richard Smith was shot and killed while he and other officers searched for a suspect in the basement of a hotel. The suspect was wanted for failing to appear in court for assaulting his girlfriend with a knife. The suspect was hiding in a storeroom and saw Officer Smith through a crack in the wall. The man opened fire through a wooden partition, fatally wounding Officer Smith. The suspect, 46, then shot and killed himself. Officer Smith was a United States Army WWII Intelligence Officer veteran and had served with the Tulare Police Department for six months. He was survived by his wife and mother. In 1978 a street was named Richard Smith Street in Officer Smith's honor.
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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 Smith served with the Tulare Police Department.
Thank you for your service to the Tulare community, and 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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