By Christopher Connelly, KERA NEWS
DALLAS – Sgt. Michael Smith was one of the five law enforcement officers killed when a gunman fired on police at a peaceful protest on Thursday. KERA’s Christopher Connelly spoke with those who knew him.
Michael Walton says this is a tough weekend. I caught up with the head of the Dallas Fraternal Order of Police at an impromptu memorial outside of police headquarters. Two squad cars were covered with flowers and handwritten tributes to the city’s police force.
“…it’s just overwhelming grief coming from the officers.”
Walton didn’t know all five of the officers who died. But he did work side by side with Sgt. Michael Smith.
“I knew Mike for about 25 years. He’s just a friend. It’s nothing special, he’s just a friend.”
Smith was also a member of Watermark Community Church in North Dallas. Every Sunday, he worked as a security guard beside a play area in the church’s massive lobby. Hundreds of remembrances left on the church’s Facebook page recall Smith’s cheerful presence. Wes Butler heads the children’s ministry at Watermark.
“Mike was unassuming, people just loved him. I’ve told several people that Mike was really an extension of our children’s ministry because he just loved kids.”
Smith was an Army veteran, and served on the Dallas police force for 27 years. Butler says Smith had a servant’s heart – not one to talk about himself or his profession.
“He wanted to know about you, he was engaged with “hey what’s going on in your world?” It was clearly a passion for him – he served there for 25 plus years – but he didn’t talk about it that much because he wanted to know what was going on in the ministry, or this kid needs help or hey this family is here for the first time.”
For Nathan Wagnon, who also works at Watermark, one story stands out. A young boy was having recurring nightmares that he would be sent to jail. So his mom thought talking to an actual police officer would help ease her son’s anxiety. In stepped Smith.
“He pulled out his handcuffs. And the mom was like….this is not how I thought this was gonna go. And Sgt. Mike was like “hey let me show you these.” So he put the boy’s hands in them, and he says see, they don’t fit because these are for men, and you’re a boy.”
For Wagnon, this is the kind of personality that will be missed at the church – empathetic, encouraging, approachable.
“That’s the kind of gut punch for us as a church. We didn’t just lose a DPD guy that worked for us, we lost a member and a friend and a gentle man who interacted with kids really well and who loved people and his church really well.”
Smith was 55. He leaves behind a wife, two daughters, and a congregation full of friends.
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