MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Memphis Police named fallen Officer Geoffrey Redd their Officer of the Year Thursday in an award ceremony at the Sons of the American Revolution in Memphis, presenting the award to his wife.
Redd was shot and later died in a confrontation at the Poplar-White Station Library in early February.
"Thank you, Officer Redd, for your dedication and service to the City of Memphis," MPD said in a statement after presenting the award.
Redd was responding to a trespassing complaint at the library when the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation said the suspect, 28-year-old Torance Jackson Jr., pulled out a gun and shot him. A second officer returned fire, killing Jackson.
The TBI is working on the case at the request of the Shelby County prosecutor. The bureau often investigates shootings and other use-of-force incidents around the state when officers are involved.
Redd, 49, died on Feb. 18, two weeks after the shooting at the Poplar-White Station Library.
Redd served in the Marine Corps before joining the Memphis Police Department in 2008. Redd worked in crisis intervention and trained fellow officers, colleagues said. He also was director of security at his church, the Greater Community Temple of the Church of God in Christ.
Redd, a husband and father, was honored February 27 with a "Sea of Blue," in which law enforcement officers rode around Memphis with their vehicle lights turned on.
Loved ones remembered him as a man committed to his Christian faith and local church, working as the director of security at, the greater community temple of the church of God in Christ.
During the funeral, Memphis Police Director Cerelyn "CJ" Davis said Redd and his partner showed heroism in the confrontation at the library.
