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Family of Harry Smith Frustrated that APD Officers are ClearedThe son of Harry Smith is frustrated that the officers responsible for his father's death wont be prosecutedRelated Content
ANCHORAGE – It is a nightmare on replay for Russell Smith, who said the death of his father, 59-year-old Harry Smith, never leaves his mind. “It's on a reel that rewinds every second of every day,” said Smith. Smith, 36, said he’s angry the Anchorage police officers, Michael Jones and Bryan Heinz, who shot and killed his father, will not be prosecuted, after an independent investigation by the State Office of Special Prosecutions found the use of deadly force was justified. "There’s absolutely no way to justify what happened - they can do all the investigations they want, they can tell all the lies they want, but there's nothing that'll ever justify what happened,” said Smith. Russell Smith called 911 on July 1 after his father threatened to kill himself and harm others. Smith said his father struggled with alcohol abuse, and mental health issues and he was hoping the police would be able to take his father to get help. “I remember very specifically the conversation I had with the police officers,” said Smith. Smith said he told the responding officers his father might have a BB gun. “At one point the officers asked me if it was a rifle style BB gun or a hand gun style BB gun and at that point I described it in detail," he said. Smith is angry the Anchorage police officers who shot and killed his father will not be prosecuted. "With all the incidents that have been happening it feels like the APD are not taking their oath to protect and serve very seriously,” said Smith. Anchorage police shot and killed Harry Smith in his backyard after they said he pointed a Smith & Wesson M&P .177 caliber airgun at officers. Clint Campion with the Office of Special Prosecutions and Appeals said he made the determination that no criminal charges will be brought against the officers involved in that shooting. "The analysis that I conduct generally is guided by Alaska law, both the statues and the case law supporting it, so that's what I look at to determine whether the officers' use of force is justified," said Campion. Campion said he reviewed all of the evidence and interviews from the police investigation. |
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Mike J said on Thursday, Aug 9 at 8:51 PM
Hey Russell Smith..."Anchorage police shot and killed Harry Smith in his backyard after they said he pointed a Smith & Wesson M&P .177 caliber airgun at officers." Have your wife take a shot at you in the backyard with that 'harmless' airgun. Guess maybe shouldn't have come at officers with a gun in his hand.
98781351Tomb said on Thursday, Aug 9 at 9:42 PM
APD, the troopers and states special prosecutor have lost touch with common sense approach to dealing with minor offenses,, can't we just try rubber bullets and/or the taser for a change
98782385mikey372002 said on Friday, Aug 10 at 7:49 AM
Yah russell how about you going over and dealing with your father and his air rifle instead of calling 911, sounds like you want something for nothing, Kind of like a lawsuit, Go figure.
98808675martin said on Friday, Aug 10 at 8:05 AM
Right after this happened the news showed a picture of what the airgun looked like and it looked almost identical to a firearm. I'm sure they couldn't be positive and had to assume it was a real firearm and acted in defense of themselves and others. Its messed up and folks that are suicidal need help before it gets to this level. My prayers are for the family, friends, and the officers involved. God bless.
98809726Wendy said on Friday, Aug 10 at 11:07 AM
I would shoot anyone who pointed a gun at me and ask questions later. I mean, c'mon! Who's going to wait and see if they get hit by a harmless bb or pellet or if they get KILLED by a deadly bullet?! Nobody intelligent would, that's for sure. Oh and @Tomb....if a guy is NUTS, WANTING TO DIE, do you think rubber bullets are going to help the situation and how would they get close enough to a GUY WITH A GUN to taser him?! The man had a gun and from where the officers were they couldn't possible know for sure what kind of gun it was so they had to do what was safest for THEIR own lives. They did the right thing under the circumstances.
98824165JC said on Friday, Aug 10 at 12:08 PM
They are not being prosecuted because they are on right side of law. Anyone outside of the law could be tried and go to jail. What is wrong with our justice system, are they "just them" and not us?
98828086Midgardian said on Friday, Aug 10 at 4:34 PM
I've said it before and I'll say it again: Non. Lethal. Rounds.
98842752Realist said on Friday, Aug 10 at 4:36 PM
one of the 1st articles pointed out that the son by his own admission has a problem with calling 911 and had done so many times in the past few weeks alone. In this instance if the problem was NOT an emergency he should have called DISPATCH or simply dealt with it himself. who better to know and deal with an internal family problem then the son ? If he was too scared to go and "disarm" his father what did he think the cops were going to do ? go hug him while he pointed a realistic looking gun at them ? by calling 911 he poised it as an emergency to the police, so he should expect them to act as such, and when a gun was pointed at officers after warnings to put it down they reacted as any sane person would who wants to live it was a tragic incident that did not need to happen and maybe people will learn when to call the cops and when to step in and take action themselves
98842831Realist said on Friday, Aug 10 at 4:37 PM
its time the son steps up and acknowledge HIS role in getting his father shot and quit pointing all the fingers at the cops ... seems like a case of suicide by cop by son & father: the son tricked the cops into killing off his father who he was having problems with. Read the other articles that show his state of mind and recent incidents of him calling the cops on his dad, he even admits he was trying to have his father committed so clearly the problems were such that he did not want to deal with his father any more and was trying to push his problem on the government and gain control of his dads things now he is already moving quickly and selling off his fathers assets.... hmmm
98842996Internal Affairs said on Friday, Aug 10 at 6:02 PM
Its common practice,when after a "cop" shoots someone,internal affairs clears the affected individual.Everone knows that,protect your own.
98846256TB said on Saturday, Aug 11 at 1:38 PM
Don't ever call those sissy cops for anything. They're just a bunch of trigger happy overpaid jerks.
98900322Anonymous said on Sunday, Aug 12 at 11:35 PM
man back in the 70's when the Nam vets came back being all flashback and all the cops never shot them just took a blanket and looked at each other...then chased the guy or gal and wrapped them up...no harm no foul...they were talking foul...but hey...then they stopped doing that around the early 80's...guess they got too old...
99001396Doug said on Monday, Aug 13 at 8:00 PM
I you call 911 and ask police to do a "welfare check," if that person does not submit to police and give up all Constitutional rights, the police are very likely to kill the person. If the person refuses to let the police in to the house, which they are entitled to under the Bill of Rights, the police will call it an "armed standoff" and call in the SWAT team to kill that person with a rifle.
99077476Doug said on Monday, Aug 13 at 8:02 PM
When you call in a "welfare check," the person being checked has no Constitutional rights in Alaska. Police need no warrant to enter the house and search. They need no arrest warrant. People call in welfare checks on their enemies. This man killed his father, whether he meant to or not.
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