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Slain officer's girlfriend: "We didn't make it"

By Mark Davis | The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Nicholas Smarr is pictured with his girlfriend, Rachel Harrod. The two were planning a trip to Disney World, where Harrod suspected they might become engaged. Photo Courtesy Rachel Harrod.

By Mark Davis | The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Rachel Harrod should have been making final plans for a trip to Disney World this week with her boyfriend, Nicholas Smarr. Instead, she was visiting an Americus funeral home preparing to bury him.

Smarr was one of two officers killed in a shootout Wednesday with a gunman in the small southwest Georgia city of Americus. The other officer, Jody Smith, died the following day. Friends and roommates, they had been responding to a domestic disturbance call.

Investigators said Officer Nicholas Smarr (right) of the Americus Police Department and Georgia Southwestern Police Officer Jody Smith (left) were responding to a domestic disturbance call when they said Lembrick shot the men.

Smarr and Harrod were set to leave Sunday for Disney World, where Harrod anticipated getting an engagement ring.

“I had a feeling about it,” she said. “I’d always dreamed of getting a ring at Disney World.”

“We didn’t quite make it,” she added.

Smarr's funeral will be held Sunday at 2 p.m. at the Georgia Southwestern State University Storm Dome.

Learn more about the officers and the deadly shooting at myajc.com.

Cox Media Group

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