Who Is Tim Smith? Eastman Officer Killed By Royheem Delshawn Deeds In Georgia

Following the fatal shooting of a police officer Saturday night, a manhunt was launched in central Georgia. Patrolman Tim Smith was killed when he responded to a suspicious person call and encountered the suspect, Royheem Delshawn Deeds.

USA Today reported that Bureau Special Agent in Charge Scott Whitley said the 31-year-old officer from the Eastman Police Department had a conversation with the 24-year-old alleged gunman. Whitley went on to reveal that Smith was not wearing a body camera and called in the shooting after it happened. When he was shot, the officer fired back and Deeds fled the scene.

Smith was then rushed to an area hospital where he died. He was a father and had been with the department since February 2011. The officer leaves behind two sons, a daughter, a stepson and his fiancée, Chelsea Clark. She said Smith always hugged her and the children and expressed his love for them each day before he went to work. The couple was together for two years and were on the verge of marriage. She told CNN, “We were engaged. We were trying to get on our feet before getting married.”

As of Monday, the Telfair County Sheriff’s Office canceled the BOLO alert for Deeds and announced they had Deeds in custody. Prior to that, the Facebook page for the department offered a $15,000 reward for his arrest and citizens were told not approach him because he is considered armed and dangerous.

According to the New York Daily News, inmate records show that Deeds was captured Monday in Florida just before 3 a.m. He is being held about 150 miles southeast of Eastman, Georgia, at the Nassau County Jail and Detention Center.