Arkansas Officer Saved Sgt. During Fatal Gunfight

Officer Jonathan Schmidt, 30, was killed in front of the Cottonwood Manor Apartments on Pine Street at 11:27 p.m. as he walked toward a 2002 Hyundai.

A Trumann (Ark.) Police officer pushed his sergeant out of harm's way before being fatally shot during a vehicle stop on Tuesday in Poinsett County.

Officer Jonathan Schmidt, 30, was killed in front of the Cottonwood Manor Apartments on Pine Street at 11:27 p.m. as he walked toward a 2002 Hyundai, according to Bill Sadler, public information officer with the Arkansas State Police.

Officer Schmidt pulled over the Hyundai after he ran the license plate and learned the vehicle was uninsured. Sgt. Corey Overstreet arrived as a backup officer prior to the vehicle stop.

Three of the four people in the vehicle had outstanding misdemeanor warrants, reports Arkansas Online, including driver Brian Keith Elumbaugh.

Officer Schmidt pulled over the vehicle, and was joking with Elumbaugh. At that time, 37-year-old Jerry Lard allegedly opened fire on the officer, who was hit in the neck and pushed Sgt. Overstreet out of harm's way, reports the Associated Press.

Lard, who cursed at the officer as he lay dying, was taken into custody and hospitalized. He has an outstanding warrant, Sadler tells POLICE Magazine.

Officer Schmidt, a four-year veteran, leaves a wife and three children. The Trumann PD scheduled a memorial service for Office Schmidt for Saturday.

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