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#1
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07-23-2014, 04:30 PM
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 ✖ The Antique Christ ✖ Poster Rank:106 Gonzo Punk Join Date: Jan 2009 Posts: 15,478
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The Exact Moment an Officer Kills an Assailant
  From "Men,True Adventure" Magazine, May 1958 vol.7 no.5 pages 36 & 37. Caption, "Man Berserk!" "Nobody knows when it is going to happen, but suddenly he's there--- a lunatic with a gun who's out to murder everybody in sight." " In Little Rock,Ark.H. B. Long an escaped mental patient, forced Mrs A. D. Lynn from her home, waved his rifle, dared police to get him. Off-duty patrolman Gene Smith fired. The photo was snapped just as Smith' s bullet hit him. That is all of the info listed about the image in the magazine. -------------------------- The year was 1958. A mental patient escaped from the old Arkansas Mental Hospital which was just off Markham (where the U of A Medical Center is now) and the police traced him to a home a few blocks away where he was holding a woman hostage. My Great Uncle Lou was working for KATV and went to the site. Gene Smith, an off duty LRPD officer, lived next door and was asleep (wearing only his boxer shorts) when he was awakened by the activity. (by now it was mid-afternoon.) He grabbed his gun and went out onto his porch, just as the mental patient came out holding the lady as a shield. He didn't see Mr. Smith and because Smith was to his side and the only police officer to have a clear shot. One second after this picture was taken, the Officer Smith, in his boxers shot the man and killed him. No one had known if the if the mental patient was armed - he wasn't - but the other police, the reporters, photographers and by-standers across the street, were hiding behind trees and parked cars, but Lou had walked brazenly out into the middle of the street. Therefore he was the only one to get the photos. They were published both on KATV and in the Arkansas Gazette and also Life Magazine had a two page spread of the photo. Either the TV station or the newspaper submitted the photo to the Pulitizer Committee; Lou's photo came in second. BTW, the photo that won the prize for 1958 was of a policeman patiently reasoning with a 2 year old boy who was trying to cross the street during a parade in DC. Gene Smith was eventually promoted to Chief of Police; he tragically died years later: murder/suicide with his wife.  This is a picture of my Great Uncle Lou (left) and his co-worker being interviewed about the incident. Note: This is not my uncle. This is a story I found online. |
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#2
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07-23-2014, 10:51 PM
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 My Rank: FIRST SERGEANT Poster Rank:440 Comrade Join Date: Aug 2013 Posts: 2,627 2,627Posts 6,239Thanked 1,167Quoted 14Mentioned 0Contrib. |
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Re: The Exact Moment an Officer Kills an Assailant
Very nice shot (both for real and photographically). I stopped a burglary of my neighbor's house in my under ware once. Thank God no one got a photo of me. My wife still laughs at me for that little incident. I can't imagine the teasing that officer got from his coworkers. On the one hand, he did a heroic selfless act...but on the other hand, he got put in Life Magazine wearing only his boxer shorts. You'd never live that down...ever.  |
