On April 13th, 1996, Winnebago County Sheriff’s Deputies responded to a domestic call made by the wife James H. Smith in the 1200 block of Kingsley Drive around 4 a.m.
Ken Tyson, one of the responding deputies, went to the back of the house after arriving on the scene. Shortly after a Smith family dog ran towards the back where the cop was. James allegedly followed the with a knife in hand.
Tyson said James rushed him with the knife causing Tyson to shoot him in the head. James was taken to the hospital but died not too long after.
This was the ninth police shooting of the 1990’s in Winnebago County.
This was the second police shooting in 1996 by officers in Winnebago County.