“Jim’s superpower was his integrity,” Heppner said.
Smith is the second Iowa State Patrol officer to be shot and killed in the line of duty since 1936.
Investigators say the violence that killed Smith began in Lang‘s hometown of Grundy Center, 80 miles northeast of Des Moines, after an officer tried to pull him over for suspicion of driving without a valid license. A brief chase ensued, and Lang eventually got out and put the officer in a chokehold, disarmed him of his stun gun and yelled “shoot me!” throughout the scuffle, police have said.
Police say Lang then barricaded himself inside his home with firearms he legally owned despite at least seven arrests for drunken driving or public intoxication over two decades.