Local News
Details arise of final moments before officer fatally shot 
08:59 AM CST on Thursday, January 8, 2009
MOURNING A FALLEN OFFICER
Jason Whitely reports
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DALLAS – Not until now has 26-year-old Charles Payne ever been charged with a crime.
But now, Dallas police suspect he was the shooter behind the death of Sr. Cpl. Norm Smith Tuesday night.
"I really believe the people here in South Dallas, and the community and the children will miss him because he was such a positive influence really,” said Billy Harvell, the assistant principal at Lincoln High School.
Hearts were heavy at the school, like they were in many other parts of Dallas where Sr. Cpl. Smith worked.
Students and administrators at Lincoln High knew and respected Smith.
"He could jump out of a car and make things happen,” Harvell said. “Kids would react to him in a positive manner."
Smith was a veteran member of DPD's Gang Unit.
The last few minutes of his life were spent trying to get a suspected robber off the streets.
"Because of his size and demeanor you always wanted to work with him because you knew he would be there to protect you in case something went wrong,” remembered Sgt. George Aranda, Dallas Police Department.
Tuesday night, something did go wrong. Smith and a team had an arrest warrant for William Jobe, 29. Jobe was one of two suspects in a violent robbery at the Triple Spin Game Room in Arlington back in May 2007.
"One of the two grabbed [the employee] in a chokehold and hit him in the head with the butt of a pistol," the affidavit read. "The two then ordered [him] and others into the office and onto their knees. The two took about $1,000."
A year-and-a-half later, police tracked Jobe to Payne's southeast Oak Cliff apartment in the 4900 block of Wadsworth.
When Payne realized uniformed police were at the door, he shot through it, investigators said.
A single bullet struck Smith in the face, killing him.
Minutes later, police said, Payne and Jobe called 911 saying two men had just tried to kick in their door and shoot at them. But sources told News 8 the suspects likely used that time to flush drugs down the toilet. Cocaine, marijuana and a weapon were found inside the apartment after Payne and Jobe surrendered.
Payne is now locked up without bail and was charged with capital murder.
Jobe, the suspect police were originally after, was taken to jail on the Arlington warrant.
Simple phrases now come to mind as police remember Smith.
"Good officer, good father, a good husband, a mentor and a cops-cop," Sgt. Aranda said of Smith.
Smith was also a former Marine, married to a fellow officer and is the 79th Dallas policeman to die in the line of duty.
Services for Smith will be at 11 a.m. Friday at The Potter’s House, 6777 W. Kiest Blvd., in Dallas. Burial services will follow at the Garden of Honor at Restland Memorial Cemetery at 9220 Restland Road in Dallas.
E-mail jwhitely@wfaa.com
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