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Slain officer’s girlfriend: 'We didn’t quite make it'

Proposal expected on upcoming trip to Disney
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.
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
Dec 9, 2016

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.

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.

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

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