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Officer Down: Senior Corporal Norman Smith

Age: 43

Cause of Death: Gunfire

Senior Corporal Norman Smith was shot and killed as he attempted to serve an arrest warrant.

Corporal Smith and several members of the Gang Unit went to a home on Wadsworth Drive in Dallas to service a arrest warrant for aggravated assault. When Corporal Smith knocked on the front door of the home, he was shot and killed.

Members of the Dallas Police SWAT team were able to make entry into the apartment and arrest three suspects at the scene, including the suspect that shot Corporal Smith.

Corporal Smith had served with the Dallas Police Department for 18 years and was assigned to the Gang Unit. His murder occurred on the day before this 18th anniversary with the department.

Corporal Smith is survived by his wife, who also serves with the Dallas Police Department, and two children.

Dallas police identify officer shot in face, killed while serving warrant

Editor's Note: Google “police officers killed serving warrants” and your computer will deliver screen after screen full of references in an eye blink. In the annals of law enforcement, nearly 500 cops have fallen dead from felonious attacks during warrant service... Read more from Chuck Remsberg's article 5 lessons learned from a warrant service gone bad to find out what one officer learned from his near-miss.

By Tanya Eiserer, Scott Goldstein
Dallas Morning News

DALLAS, Texas — A veteran Dallas gang-unit officer was shot and killed Tuesday night while trying to make an arrest at an apartment complex in east Oak Cliff.

Senior Cpl. Norman Smith, 43, was with about six other officers serving a felony warrant in the 4900 block of Wadsworth Drive. Smith knocked on the door of an apartment about 6:15 p.m. and came under fire almost immediately, police said.

He was shot in the head and taken to Baylor University Medical Center at Dallas, where he was declared dead about an hour later.

Three suspects were taken into custody, police said. The men were being questioned and had not been identified.

Police Chief David Kunkle said the officers serving the warrant were attempting a "ruse to try to get the suspects to the door without announcing that they were police officers."

"This was a high-risk situation," Kunkle said. "The officers were tactically well-positioned, but they were immediately met with gunfire."

Smith joined the department in 1991 and would have marked his 18th year on the force today. Smith had an extensive knowledge of Dallas' gangs and was described by Kunkle as one of the department's finest police officers.

"I would have thought he was invincible," Kunkle said Tuesday night, choking back emotion. "He was a great, great street officer. He had the heart of a warrior."

Smith's death was believed to be the nation's first fatal shooting of an officer in the line of duty this year. He is the first Dallas officer shot to death in the line of duty since Mark Nix in 2007.

Lt. Sally Lannom, a former member of the gang unit, described Smith as a hard worker who knew his job well and would be sorely missed.

"It's a huge loss for the department and a huge loss for those of us who knew and loved Norm," Lannom said.

Smith was married to Dallas police Lt. Regina Smith. They met when Norman Smith was working at the Dallas County Jail.

"Norm was working there, and he came up to her and said, 'You're the most beautiful woman I've ever seen,' " Kunkle said.

Lannom said Smith was an expert on the gangs in the southern sector, where Tuesday's shooting occurred.

"He worked that area in patrol," she said. "He knew that area. It made sense when he came to the unit to become the expert on the gangs in that part of town."

Kunkle said Smith "could go into the toughest neighborhoods and be respected."

On Tuesday, Smith and about six other gang-unit officers were in search of a violent felon at the Oak Wood Place Apartments, police said.

Smith, flanked by two other officers, approached the door and knocked. Someone inside asked who was there, and Smith responded with a fake name, police officials said.

When the suspected gunman opened the door, Smith yelled that they were the police, according to the preliminary investigation. The suspect then tried to close the door, and Smith pushed back. That's when he was shot.

Officersreturned fire, frantically trying to pull their fallen comrade out of the line of fire as the gunman opened the door and continued shooting. No one else was injured in the gunbattle.

The three men inside the apartment then surrendered, one at a time, within minutes of the shooting.

Hours afterward, a SWAT unit remained at the scene, and police officers roamed the complex on the northeast corner of Wadsworth and Loop 12.

Surrounded by a black wrought-iron gate, the apartment complex has long been known as a haven for drug and gang activity.

In 1998, it was the scene of a gunbattle between police and drug suspects. Someone fired through an apartment wall, hitting Dallas police officer Edward Menchaca in the hip. A second police officer was grazed by a bullet.

The officers were investigating a tip that a drug deal was going on inside the apartment.

Kunkle said Regina Smith, who works in his office, was devastated by the news, just as he was.

"These are just people that I have tremendous love and affection for," he said. "They're all tough, but for me this is a really difficult situation."

Built like a middle linebacker, Smith stood well over 6 feet tall and was known to be even-tempered, opinionated and even sentimental. Lannom said she was introduced to her husband by Smith.

"I still remember Norm standing there all embarrassed, asking me if I wanted to go out with Jon," Lannom recalled. "I owe my husband to Norm."

Lannom said Smith's mother is from Europe, and he spent a portion of his youth there. Before joining the Dallas police, Smith worked as a Kaufman County sheriff's deputy.

The Smiths have two teenage children, a boy and a girl. Those who knew the couple well said they enjoyed antiquing, collecting fine china and traveling in their off-hours.

"They were just magical together," Kunkle said.

Staff writers Marissa Alanis and Joanna Cattanach contributed to this report.

Copyright 2009 Dallas Morning News

Related article:
Dallas officer killed serving warrant

More recent news articles about officers killed in the line of duty while serving a warrant:
Penn. FBI agent killed serving warrant
Chicago officer killed serving warrant
Indy officer shot serving warrant
Va. officer slain serving drug warrant

Additional training resources:
Officer Jason Fishburn (Indianapolis Metro PD) was shot while serving a warrant in July 2008. Be sure to check out Chuck Remsberg's exclusive interview with Officer Fishburn here:
Part 1: P1 Exclusive: A "five percenter" mindset in action"
Part 2: An officer goes down...and the "five percenter" mindset kicks in