April 19, 2024

Public funeral planned Friday for slain Iowa trooper

INDEPENDENCE (AP) — The funeral will be held Friday morning for Iowa State Patrol Sgt. Jim Smith, who was killed while trying to arrest a man barricaded in his Grundy Center home.

The patrol and Smith’s family announced a visitation will be from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. Thursday at Reiff Family Center-Funeral Home and Crematory in Independence. The funeral will be at 10 a.m. Friday at Independence Community High School.

The public is welcome to attend and masks are required.

Smith, a 27-year-veteran of the patrol, was shot and killed April 9 during a standoff with Michael Thomas Lang, 41. Authorities have charged Lang, who remains hospitalized, with first-degree murder.

On Sunday, hundreds of people lined streets in Independence when the body of Smith, 51, was transported to the funeral home.