Photo: Iowa's News Now
(Independence, Iowa) -- The Independence School District is planning a permanent memorial to fallen Iowa State Trooper Jim Smith.
The school district says it plans to build a statue of Smith outside the entrance to its football field. Smith was shot and killed during a standoff in Grundy Center last year, only the second Iowa State Trooper to be fatally shot in the line of duty. Michael Lang, the man convicted of shooting Sergeant Smith, was sentenced to life in prison this week. Smith lived in Independence for 25 years.
The project is taking donations from the public at the Independence Community School District Website.