Steve Smith was identified as the former Alabama state trooper accused of shooting a local District Attorney, Greg Griggers, in the face.
Griggers is expected to live, but Smith was killed by other law enforcement officers responding to the shooting, according to local news reports. Griggers was ambushed while sitting in a vehicle.
Smith was accused in 1996 of shooting into Judge Eddie Hardaway’s home. Hardaway, who was not injured in that unsolved shooting, was the first black judge in his area.
NEW DETAILS: Greene & Marengo County District Atty Greg Griggers shot in the face in Demopolis by former State Trooper Steve Smith, Griggers expected to survive, Smith was shot by a Demopolis PD officer & drug task force member and is dead.
Reports from local news media in Alabama said that Griggers – who was known for his efforts against Mexican drug cartels – was shot outside his office in Alabama, and the suspect was then killed by police, according to local news reports. Griggers presides over several counties in the state of Alabama as a prosecutor. According to Alabama News Network, Griggers is the DA for Marengo, Greene and Sumter counties in West Alabama.
Here’s what you need to know:
Steve Smith Was Questioned in the Rifle Blasts Into Hardaway’s Home Years Ago
Greg Griggers
It’s very rare for a District Attorney to be shot, and even rarer, stating the obvious, for a DA to be shot by an ex state trooper. However, the motive is not yet clear.
Smith has a troubled history. A court decision on the Hardaway shooting says rifle blasts were fired into the judge’s home, and Smith was questioned but not arrested. He was identified as a suspect and criticized the investigation for, among other things, involving the questioning of his girlfriend.
Eventually, after he wrote two scathing letters to the editor, he was terminated, the court decision says. According to a 1996 article in the Anniston Star, Smith used “racially derogatory” terms to refer to the then police chief (both men were black). Smith had been ordered not to talk to the news media, according to the article.
He knew Hardaway from work and because he had lived in a room at the judge’s mother’s home, AP reports, and his car matched a description given by witnesses.
According to a 1996 article in the Montgomery Advertiser, the judge said he thought “powerful whites” might be behind the shooting, in which his telephone cords were also cut (however, the same newspaper also reported that a witness said the shooter was a black man in a ski mask). He had recently sentenced white men in the vandalism of black churches. Smith testified before the grand jury. The gunshots blasted into the judge’s bedroom in the early morning hours, the old newspaper story reported.
Authorities Say Smith Shot DA Griggers in the Face
17th Judicial Circuit District Attorney Greg Griggers wounded, gunman killed in Demopolis shooting t.co/Hktuu7f1lj
According to CBS42, Griggers was “shot in the face Thursday, reportedly by a former Alabama state trooper.” District Attorney Michael Jackson told Al.com, “Griggers got shot in the face and they killed the ex-state trooper who shot him.” Griggers is expected to recover, the newspaper reported.
Reporter Josh Gauntt said the former trooper’s name was Steve Smith. “Smith was shot by a Demopolis PD officer & drug task force member,” reporter Jonathan Hardison wrote on Twitter.
NOW: Here’s the scene in downtown Demopolis where investigators say former state trooper Steve Smith shot Greene/Marengo District Attorney Greg Griggers…Smith was shot & killed by a Demopolis police officer & a member of the area’s drug task force (pics via @Fox6Kelvin ) #WBRC
The motive was not yet clear. “Greene County DA Greg Griggers was shot this afternoon outside his office in Demopolis. The suspect has been killed by police, Chief Tommie Reese said. Griggers has been hospitalized and in stable condition,” reporter Stephanie Taylor of The Tuscaloosa News wrote on Twitter.
t.co/1WNpt6Jic9 District Attorney Greg Griggers, who serves Greene, Marengo and Sumter counties, has been hospitalized after a shooting this afternoon in Demopolis. (Photo of the scene provided by Traci Johnson)
Jonathan Hardison of Fox 6 wrote, “BREAKING: we’ve confirmed law enforcement is investigating a shooting involving Greene & Marengo County District Atty Greg Griggers, one other person involved is dead we’ve got a crew on the way.”
Griggers’ Office Went After Mexican Cartels With Drug Forfeitures
Greene County DA Greg Griggers was shot this afternoon outside his office in Demopolis. The suspect has been killed by police, Chief Tommie Reese said. Griggers has been hospitalized and in stable condition.
Despite his position in a rural area, Greg Griggers had earned media attention with his gutsy efforts against drug cartels.
In 2017, AL.com reported that a “lucrative battle against Mexican drug cartels is being fought on the sides of an interstate in three of Alabama’s more rural counties,” specifically citing Greene County has one of them.
The article specifically mentioned Greg Griggers as being heavily involved in those efforts, saying, “Greg Griggers, district attorney for the 17th Judicial Circuit, oversees a small drug task force that has made big seizures from Mexican drug cartels in recent years.”
The task force, despite being in rural non-populous areas, had managed to take millions of dollars off the streets and in property in civil asset forfeiture, the story reported. There is no indication that Griggers’ efforts to crack down on cartel drug activity had anything to do with his shooting, however.