FORT SMITH — Police officers are sent in pairs to certain calls since a Fort Smith officer was shot to death five years ago.
Police Chief Kevin Lindsey told the Southwest Times Record that the March 23, 2007, death of Officer Daniel Martinez is still felt throughout the department.
Martinez had been on the force for eight months when he accompanied Donna Stevens to get her son from estranged boyfriend Bobby Englebright.
Stevens knocked on the door and told Englebright she wanted her son. He told her to wait and closed the door.
When Englebright returned, he shot Martinez in the head and shot Stevens, who survived.
Englebright drove into Oklahoma, where he committed suicide after being stopped by the Highway Patrol.
Lindsey says two officers respond to domestic and standby calls.