Police Brutality / Individual record
Calvin Smith
The Washington Post's Fatal Force database records Calvin Smith in a fatal on-duty police shooting on 2016-02-13 in Baton Rouge, LA. Individual circumstances and legal outcome require case-specific review.
- Record ID
- PB-365
- Incident date
- February 13, 2016
- Outcome
- Fatal
- Location
- Baton Rouge, LA
- Agency
- Baton Rouge Police Department
- Category
- Fatal on-duty police shooting
- Age (reported)
- 22
What happened
Calvin Smith, 22, died after Baton Rouge police shot him on February 13, 2016, near Fairfields Avenue following a vehicle pursuit that began with a property-damage complaint. Police dashcam footage, reviewed by the district attorney, showed Smith exiting his car and firing a semiautomatic rifle at two officers, injuring both. The officers returned fire, critically wounding him; Smith died in a hospital that night. Relatives told local reporters he had experienced mental-health difficulties and recent treatment. East Baton Rouge District Attorney Hillar Moore later concluded the officers' shooting was legally justified. The officers' gunshot injuries and video evidence are central to the account, while the family's description of Smith's health is separate from the district attorney's legal finding.
Investigation & findings
Individual legal and investigative outcome not yet reviewed.
Washington Post Fatal Force v2; 2015–2024
Source record details
- Source incident ID
- 1266
- Race code in source
- B
- Race source method
- not_available
- Gender (source)
- male
- Armed status (source)
- gun
- Flee status (source)
- car
- Agency IDs (source)
- 1098
Sources & records
- Primary source
- Additional source
- Methodology and national police killings trackingMapping Police Violence · Dataset/methodology
- Fatal Force v2 — fatal on-duty police shootings, 2015–2024The Washington Post · Dataset