One officer was killed and another was seriously injured Wednesday in a shooting in Americus.
The slain officer was Nicholas Smarr, 25, of the Americus Police Department, and the injured officer was Jody Smith of Georgia Southwestern State University police.
The Americus police officer responded to a domestic dispute call at the Country Club Estates apartments, police Chief Mark Scott said at a news conference Wednesday afternoon. The Georgia Southwestern officer arrived as backup.
The shooting happened about 10:15 a.m.
“We’d like to express our deepest sympathies to the families and the friends” of the officers, Scott said.
The suspect was identified as Minguell Kennedy Lembrick, 32, GBI spokeswoman Nelly Miles said.
The alleged shooter, considered armed and dangerous, remains on the loose and a manhunt is underway, the GBI said.
A $20,000 reward has been offered for the arrest of the suspect, GBI Director Vernon Keenan said.
As a precaution, the Georgia Southwestern State University campus was placed on lockdown, officials said.
There have been several shootings of law enforcement officers this year, including high-profile cases in Louisiana and Texas.
In Georgia, there have been six officers killed this year.
U. S. Marshal Patrick Carothers was shot and killed last month while serving a fugitive with a warrant in Long County.
Earlier in November, Peach County deputies Patrick Sondron and Daryl Smallwood were shot after responding to a call about an argument between neighbors. Both deputies died.
In August, Eastman police officer Tim Smith was shot and killed while getting out of his patrol car on a “suspicious person” call.
Riverdale police Maj. Greg Barney was killed in February as he assisted police in Clayton County with a drug raid.
