--- title: Memphis Police Officer Struck, Killed by Shooting Suspect description: A Memphis police officer was killed after he was struck by a car allegedly driven by a suspect fleeing an earlier shooting, authorities said canonical: https://time.com/4357729/memphis-police-officer-killed-verdell-smith/ author: Melissa Chan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-06-05T16:05:57.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-03-31T09:44:11.369Z article:section: U.S. og:title: Memphis Police Officer Struck and Killed by Shooting Suspect og:description: He was an 18-year veteran of the force and had three children og:url: https://time.com/4357729/memphis-police-officer-killed-verdell-smith/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3be4991bb73d0a25/698894ca2dce01d4849e936e/police-badge.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Police badge og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Memphis Police Officer Struck and Killed by Shooting Suspect twitter:description: He was an 18-year veteran of the force and had three children twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3be4991bb73d0a25/698894ca2dce01d4849e936e/police-badge.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Memphis Police Officer Struck and Killed by Shooting Suspect  by [Melissa Chan](/author/melissa-chan/)  ## Melissa Chan Jun 5, 2016 4:05 PM CUT  Getty Images  by [Melissa Chan](/author/melissa-chan/)  ## Melissa Chan Jun 5, 2016 4:05 PM CUT A Memphis police officer was [killed in the line of duty](http://www.cnn.com/2016/06/05/us/memphis-shooting-police-officer-struck/ "undefined") Saturday after he was struck by a car allegedly driven by a suspect who authorities believe was fleeing an earlier shooting. Verdell Smith, 46, was clearing a crime scene Saturday night when he was hit by a vehicle driven by an unidentified suspect who police said had just shot three people in two separate nearby locations, [_USA Today_ reports](http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2016/06/05/memphis-officer-struck-killed-after-shooting/85442424/ "undefined"). The suspect fled on foot but was taken into custody after a brief chase, Memphis Police Department Director Mike Rallings said at a news conference. Smith was an 18-year veteran of the force and a father of three who was engaged, Rallings said. Two of the shooting victims are in critical condition while the third is non-critical, CNN reports. No charges have been filed yet. “I am angry this morning—angry at the senseless loss of a dedicated public servant, and angry at the absolutely unacceptable level of violence in our city,” [Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland said in a statement](https://www.facebook.com/mayormemphis/posts/1708456489426174 "undefined"). “We must not accept this as our norm.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4357729/memphis-police-officer-killed-verdell-smith/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4357729/memphis-police-officer-killed-verdell-smith/"},"headline":"Memphis Police Officer Struck and Killed by Shooting Suspect","datePublished":"2016-06-05T16:05:57.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-31T09:44:11.369Z","description":"He was an 18-year veteran of the force and had three children","url":"https://time.com/4357729/memphis-police-officer-killed-verdell-smith/","keywords":["Crime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3be4991bb73d0a25/698894ca2dce01d4849e936e/police-badge.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Melissa Chan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/melissa-chan/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3be4991bb73d0a25/698894ca2dce01d4849e936e/police-badge.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Police badge","caption":"Police badge","creditText":"Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4357729/memphis-police-officer-killed-verdell-smith/","name":"Memphis Police Officer Struck and Killed by Shooting Suspect"}}]}] ```