Two Atlanta Police officers were killed in the crash of an Atlanta Police helicopter near the intersection of Martin Luther King & Hamilton E. Holmes drives on Atlanta’s west side late Saturday.
The Atlanta Police Department identified those two officers as Officer Richard J. Halford and Officer Shawn A. Smiley. Officer Halford had served with the APD since 1986; Officer Smiley joined the department in 2010.
In a news conference, Atlanta Police Chief George Turner said the helicopter was involved in a search for a missing 9-year-old boy when the crash happened at about 10:30 p.m.
No one on the ground was reported hurt.
The National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration are investigating the crash.
Witnesses said the helicopter was flying low and clipped power lines as it crashed to the ground. Power was reported out in the area, but there was no indication as to how long before it would be restored.
Police said the boy was found shortly after the crash. They said he had been missing since about 7 p.m. The boy’s mother says the boy has run away before.
11Alive’s Rebecca Lindstrom says the boy’s mother was griefstricken that the two officers were killed while trying to help find her child…
Read more: 11Alive News
