In the early hours of February 26, 1997, Metropolitan Police Department officer Oliver Wendell Smith Jr., 27, was fatally shot in the parking lot of his Forestville, Maryland, apartment on Rena Road after returning from his shift in civilian clothes. Three men approached him, forced him face down and searched his belongings; when they discovered his badge, wallet and service weapon and realized he was an officer, he was shot three times in the back of the head and left to die. The assailants fled with his gun, wallet and possibly his badge.

A manhunt led to arrests and charges of first-degree murder for three suspects. Anthony Allen Crawley later pleaded guilty to felony murder and identified Antwan Delonta Brown as the triggerman. Sentences reported include life without parole for the shooter; another defendant received life plus 20 years for a handgun violation after a felony murder plea; a third who testified against the others was given a life term with 35 years suspended. Officer Smith had served three years on the force and left a wife and five-year-old son.