RAW VIDEO: In a Split Second, Officer’s Questioning of Suspect Turns Deadly; Officer Assassinated

By Jennifer Burke 

On December 27, Flagstaff Police Officer Tyler Stewart was killed when responding to a domestic violence call. The girlfriend of 28-year old Robert Smith had called police to report an altercation with him. Officer Stewart went to Smith’s home to question him about the incident. Little did the officer know that the seemingly calm conversation between him and Smith would lead to him losing his life.

The body camera worn by Officer Stewart captured his entire altercation with Smith on video.
While Officer Stewart was questioning Smith outside about the domestic violence incident, there was seemingly no issues with Smith complying with answering the officer’s questions. But, the conversation took a very quick and deadly turn after the officer asked Smith if he could conduct a routine pat down to make sure he didn’t have any weapons.
His compliance ended when Smith unexpectedly took out a .22 caliber gun and immediately fired at Officer Stewart.
The video has been edited so that the assassination of Officer Stewart is not shown, but you can see from the video how even the seemingly calm of conversations between an officer and a suspect can change in an instant, putting the officer’s life at risk.

Fox 10 Phoenix reports on what happens, according to police officers, after the portion of the body cam video that is actually released ends.

Flagstaff Police say the video goes on you would hear three shots, the camera falling to the ground and then three more shots. Then nine seconds of silence, followed by what investigators say is the sound of Officer Stewart’s service weapon cycling, then a seventh and final round is heard.

Unfortunately for Officer Stewart and his family, he did not survive the gunfire and died at the scene. Smith killed himself after killing Officer Stewart.

Flagstaff Police Officer Tyler Stewart was shot and killed by a suspect in a simple domestic violence call back in Dec. 2014. His body camera captured his final moments, and the police have released the footage up until the moment he was killed.