N.J. cop responds to scene where son dying

PATERSON, N.J., March 29 (UPI) -- Veteran New Jersey police Officer Wayne Smith was called the scene of a fight in Paterson, N.J., only to find his own son dying from a stab wound.

Smith, 41, was working the night shift when in the early hours Sunday he responded to a call for "all available officers" to head to a fight in progress, the Passaic Herald & News reported Tuesday.

Smith arrived to find a large crowd of people with blood on them, including one person laying on the ground.

He approached the body to find his son, 20-year-old Dayshawn Smith, with a bloody hole in his chest.

"It went right to my heart," Smith said. "My adrenaline pumped up more. I ran up to him, but he was lifeless."

Dayshawn was pronounced dead about 6:30 a.m.

Smith is on bereavement leave until Dayshawn's funeral Thursday, but said he is satisfied with his job. "If I can save someone else's child, then it's a job well done for me."