Suspect in Dallas officer's killing put on suicide watch

A suicide watch has been placed on a 26-year-old man who faces a capital murder charge after the fatal shooting of a veteran Dallas police officer Tuesday evening in east Oak Cliff.

Charles Payne was being held without bond Wednesday at the Lew Sterrett Justice Center, said Kim Leach, spokeswoman for the Dallas County Sheriff's Department.

The suicide watch was ordered by jail officials because of Payne's behavior, Leach said. The officials, however, declined to give details, Leach said.

She noted, however, that an initial check of Dallas County court records did not indicate any previous arrests for Payne.

But now he is accused in the fatal shooting of Senior Cpl. Norman Smith who was trying to serve a felony arrest warrant at an apartment complex in the 4900 block of Wadsworth Drive, police said.

Smith, 43, was shot in the head and he died at Baylor University Medical Center at Dallas.

Wednesday would have been his 18th anniversary with the department.

He is the nation's first police officer to die in the line of duty in 2009, according to a spokesman for the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund in Washington D.C.

Payne, suspected of firing the shots, was one of three men inside the unit at Oak Wood Place Apartments who surrendered to police after the shooting. One of them was released.

Dallas police said Wednesday their officers had gone to the apartment to serve an Arlington warrant on William Jobe, who was in jail Wednesday on that warrant.

Jobe, 29, has an extensive criminal record in Dallas County, including arrests for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, burglary, drugs, evading arrest, failing to identify as fugitive from justice, theft and bond forfeiture, court records show.

According to the affidavit attached to the Arlington warrant, he was wanted in connection of the May 2007 armed robbery of the Triple Spin Game Room on West Division Street.

He and a second suspect are accused of choking an employee at the northwest gaming room before leaving with about $1,000 in cash, according to the warrant.

It also stated that Jobe, also know as Patrick Dyer, lived at the Oakwood Place Apartments, where Tuesday night’s shooting occurred.

Jobe had been released from prison in February 2007, according to the warrant.

The Dallas Morning News, citing the preliminary investigation, described what apparently happened when officers went to the Dallas apartment:

Smith was between two other officers when he walked up to the door. He knocked and when a voice inside asked who was there, he answered with a fake name.

When Payne opened the door, Smith yelled that they were Dallas police. Payne tried to close the door, Smith pushed back, and he was shot.

Officers returned fire and tried to pull Smith out of the line of fire as Payne swung open the door and continued to shoot.

The men eventually surrendered.

"Officers recovered drugs and a weapon inside the apartment," police said in a news release.

Smith had been with the department's gang unit for 14 years.

His wife, Lt. Regina Smith, works in Police Chief David Kunkle's office. The Smiths have two teen-age children, a boy and a girl, according to The Dallas Morning News.

Kunkle said Norman Smith came to work about 6 a.m. Tuesday, learned where the robbery suspects were, and at the end of a 12-hour shift accompanied a sergeant and five or six other officers to the complex.

Kunkle described Tuesday's operation as "a high-risk situation."

Tragically, Fort Worth police are familiar with the risk as well. Officer Henry "Hank" Nava, was fatally shot in 2005 while serving a warrant on a man who was wanted on a parole violation.

An emotional Kunkle described Smith as "a great, great street cop" who had been officer of the year.

During a two-month period in 2006, Smith helped clear eight murders, many involving gang members, police said.

He was also lauded for his ability to interview people, which helped "numerous other detectives outside the gang and homicide units," according to a DPD news release.

"I would have thought he was invincible," Kunkle said Tuesday night. "He had the heart of a warrior."

Dallas police officials announced Wednesday that the Norman S. Smith Memorial Fund had been established at the Dallas City Credit Union for anyone wishing to make donations.

Also, a memorial honoring Smith was set up in front of the Jack Evans Headquarters Building in Dallas.

The names of 77 Dallas police officers are already inscribed on the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial, said Kevin Morison, spokesman for the organization.

He added that a 78th officer, Senior Cpl. Victor Lozada Sr., will be added to the national memorial in the spring. Lozada died in a motorcycle accident last February while escorting presidential candidate, Hillary Clinton.