The Latest: 2nd Georgia officer dies day after being shot

The Latest: 2nd Georgia officer dies day after being shot


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AMERICUS, Ga. (AP) — The Latest on the shootings of two police officers in Georgia (all times local):

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5:50 p.m.

A second Georgia police officer has died a day after being shot alongside a fellow officer while responding to a domestic dispute report.

Charles Patterson, president of Georgia Southwestern State University, said in a statement Thursday evening that campus police Officer Jody Smith died from his injuries. Smith had been airlifted to a hospital after the shootings Wednesday in Americus, about 130 miles south of Atlanta.

Also killed in the attack was Americus police Officer Nicholas Smarr. Fellow officers said the two men had been close friends since boyhood.

The suspected gunman, Minquell Lembrick, was found dead Thursday morning at a home where he was hiding. A telephone tip led police to the residence. Americus Police Chief Mark Scott said it appeared Lembrick shot himself as the first officers arrived.

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1:45 p.m.

Police say a man wanted in the fatal shooting of a Georgia police officer and the wounding of another apparently killed himself as authorities arrived at a home where he was hiding.

Americus Police Chief Mark Scott said at a news conference that 32-year-old Minquell Lembrick was found dead by a SWAT team. Scott said the suspect died from what "appeared to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound." He added the officers heard a gunshot inside the home where Lembrick's body was found before the SWAT team entered.

Lembrick was suspected in the slaying Wednesday of Americus police Officer Nicholas Smarr and the shooting of Georgia Southwestern State University police Officer Jody Smith, who remained in critical condition Thursday.

Scott said police received a tip Thursday morning that led them to Lembrick.

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1 p.m.

Two police officers who were shot responding to a 911 call in southwest Georgia had been lifelong friends.

Americus police Officer Nicholas Smarr was killed Wednesday and Georgia Southwestern State University Officer Jody Smith was critically wounded after arriving at an apartment complex where a domestic dispute was reported. The shooting took place not far from the university's campus and prompted officials to lock down the school in Americus, a rural city about 130 miles south of Atlanta.

After SWAT officers stormed a home in Americus on Thursday, police announced that the suspected gunman, 32-year-old Minquell Lembrick, was dead.

Lt. Chuck Hanks of the Sumter County Sheriff's Office has known both officers for years. He says they once worked at the sheriff's department.

Hanks said Thursday that Smarr and Smith had been friends since grade school and were roommates, sharing a home in the county. He said Smith was engaged to be married next year.

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12:15 p.m.

Police say a man suspected of shooting two Georgia police officers is dead.

Phyllis Banks, a police spokeswoman in Americus, told The Associated Press on Thursday: "It's confirmed that the suspect is dead." That was after a SWAT team went into a home where authorities had received a tip that 32-year-old Minquell Lembrick was hiding.

Banks declined to give further information, including whether police had shot Lembrick or merely found his body. Police planned a 1 p.m. news conference.

Lembrick was wanted in the slaying Wednesday of Americus police officer Nicholas Smarr, who was shot outside an apartment complex along with Georgia Southwestern State University officer Jody Smith. Smith survived the attack but was critically wounded.

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12 p.m.

Authorities say a SWAT team is staking out a home where a man suspected of shooting two Georgia police officers may be hiding.

Georgia Bureau of Investigation spokeswoman Nelly Miles said police received a tip Thursday from a citizen claiming to know the whereabouts of 32-year-old Minquell Lembrick. Miles said a SWAT team was dispatched and "we believe we have him barricaded in a home."

Lembrick is wanted in the slaying Wednesday of Americus police officer Nicholas Smarr. Also shot was Jody Smith, a police officer at Southwest Georgia State University. Smith was airlifted to a hospital in critical condition.

A $70,000 reward was being offered for information leading to Lembrick's arrest.

Authorities initially gave different spellings for the first names of both Smith and Lembrick, but said Thursday they had confirmed corrected spellings for each.

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6 a.m.

The reward for information leading to the arrest of a man suspected of shooting and killing a south Georgia police officer and critically wounding another has been raised to $50,000.

Authorities say Americus police Officer Nicholas Smarr died Wednesday and Georgia Southwestern State University Officer Jodi Smith was airlifted to a hospital in critical condition. Both had been officers since 2012.

The suspect, 32-year-old Minguell Kennedy Lembrick, is still at large and considered armed and dangerous. Local, state and federal law enforcement officers are searching for him.

The FBI and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation initially offered a reward of $20,000 for information leading to Lembrick's arrest. The GBI announced Thursday that the U.S. Marshals Service and local law enforcement agencies have kicked in an additional $30,000.

Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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