Vincent “Vinny” A. Smith

Deadly force

Police shot and killed Vincent "Vinny" Smith after he'd reportedly killed Todd Widman, 21, a part-time Brown County sheriff's deputy, then shot at officers who'd tracked him to a ditch with the help of a dog. Smith, the son of a Buffalo, NY police lieutenant, had reportedly taken his mother's car, and his father's personal handgun early Tuesday morning, and then abandoned the car in Missouri, just short of the Kansas state line. Before Widman was shot, another deputy had responded to a report that Smith was walking along Rt 73 just south of the Nebraska line at around 6 p.m., but didn't see him. About an hour later, Widman radioed in that he'd found Smith, and was taking him to the sheriff's office in Hiawatha. About 15 minutes later, Widman radioed again saying he'd been shot. Widman had been shot in the back after placing Smith in the back of the patrol car, and died soon afterward at a hospital. About 50 deputies and KHP officers responded to the area and located Smith two hours later. Shots were reportedly exchanged, though no one was hit. An hour later, just before 7 p.m., three officers with dogs tracked Smith to a dry creek bed beside a Walmart on the edge of town. Smith allegedly jumped up and fired at them before he was killed by return fire. Brown County Prosecutor Kevin Hill concluded the officers were justified.