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A Michigan man has been arrested after authorities say he fatally shot a police officer less than one month after he was paroled.
Michael Lopez, 44, was arrested on Monday in Detroit after authorities said he shot and killed Melvindale police officer Mohamed Said a day earlier. Lopez was paroled on June 22 after being held in prison for 12 years for carjacking and assaulting a police officer in 2011, according to public records from the Michigan Department of Corrections.
Said, 23, was an officer for the city in the Detroit suburbs for just over a year, the Associated Press reports, and was the third Michigan officer killed in recent weeks. He was shot while responding to a call for a suspicious person near a gas station, the Detroit Free Press reports.
There, Said found Lopez and chased after him. Said tasered Lopez, who then pulled out a gun and fatally shot the officer, officials told the Detroit Free Press.
“It’s tough, him being my cousin, it feels like it’s a movie now,” Said’s cousin, Mazen Saeed, told the Detroit Free Press. “The city should step up and bring more cops and more patrol to make the city safe for all the community.”
“He was a soccer star in high school, everything,” Saeed continued. “Everybody knows him, loves him and everything, he’s such a good guy. It’s a devastation. It’s a big blow to our family, for everybody that likes him in the community.”
Neighboring Dearborn police Chief Issa Shahin posted about Said’s death on social media.
“He was a kind soul who proudly served the residents of Melvindale,” Shahin wrote. “I pray for his family, friends and our police community as we grieve the loss of a brother.”
Lopez has yet to be formally charged for the shooting, public records show. Police are still investigating and will forward the case to the Wayne County Prosecutor within the week, Michigan State Police said.
Said’s funeral is set to be held in Dearborn on Friday morning.
