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Royheem Delshawn Deeds Arrested: Georgia Police Officer Tim Smith’s Alleged Killer Found In Florida

By Tara Dodrill
Published on: 02:41 PST, Aug 15, 2016

Royheem Delshawn Deeds has been arrested and charged with the murder of Georgia police officer Tim Smith. Deeds, 24, is accused of shooting and killing the Eastman police officer around 9:30 p.m. on Saturday night. The suspected cop killer was captured in Nassau County, Florida, which is about three hours from where the murder took place in Telfair County.

Police investigators believe Royheem Deeds, 31, killed Eastman Patrol Officer Tim Smith, 31, when he was responding to a suspicious person 911 call. The police officer reportedly encountered Deeds as he got out of his cruiser, and was immediately shot and killed.

Officer Tim Smith reportedly returned gunfire at his shooter, who quickly fled the scene, a KTVZ News report said.

Officer Smith was not wearing an active body camera or bulletproof vest at the time of the shooting, the Daily Mail reports. A police cruiser dash camera may have captured the police shooting. The Georgia police officer was officially pronounced dead a short time after the shooting at a local hospital.

Law enforcement officials have not released any further information about the arrest of Deeds. It is not yet known if the police murder suspect has an attorney. A $10,000 reward had been issued for his arrest by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.

The fatal police shooting happened at the intersection of Smith and Main Streets in Eastman, according to the Atlanta Journal Constitution. Eastman is in Dodge County.

Officer Tim Smith had been a member of the Eastman Police Department since 2011. He was a father of four. Smith had two sons and a daughter and was also the stepfather to his fiance Chelsea Clark’s son. Smith and Clark had been dating for two years and had plans to marry soon.

“We were trying to get on our feet before getting married,” Chelsea Clark told reporters.

The slain police officer’s fiance also said Smith made sure to give her and all the children a big hug and told them he loved them before he walked out the door to start his shift each day.

Tim Smith is the second Georgia police officer to be shot and killed in the line of duty so far this year.

On Sunday a Marietta, Georgia police officer was shot and wounded while responding to a car break-in call. The town is located just a short distance northwest of Atlanta. Officer Scott Davis was hit in the leg when one of the two suspects opened fire.

Davis, a 10-year veteran of the police force, returned fire and wounded one of the suspects. Both of the suspects in the break-in and police shooting were juveniles. The injured juvenile suspect and the police officer are both expected to make a full recovery. Davis underwent surgery and is now recovering at a local hospital. The second juvenile suspect is also now reportedly in police custody.

Georgia police officers were not the only ones under attack this past weekend. In Long Island, New York an officer was stabbed by a suspect. When responding to an emergency 911 call, two Long Island police officers encountered a man armed with multiple knives. One officer was stabbed in the face as his partner shot the suspect in the abdomen.

The suspect has reportedly been listed in critical condition. The officer that was stabbed underwent facial surgery after being transported to a local hospital and is expected to make a full recovery.

Do you think there is a war on police officers in the United States?

[Image via Shutterstock]

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