MELVINDALE, Michigan — A 44-year-old man has been charged with the murder of a Detroit police officer who was shot while responding to a report of a suspicious person at a car wash.
Michael Lopez is expected to be arraigned on Thursday, the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office said in a news release.
Lopez faces other charges, including possession of a firearm by a felon, carrying a concealed weapon and drug possession. Court records did not list an attorney for Lopez Thursday.
Agent Mohamed Said was shot in Sunda y afternoon in Melvindale, southwest of Detroit.
According to the Public Prosecution Service, Lopez allegedly ran away after a traffic stop by Said. Said was shot while chasing Lopez, who arrested monday evening in southwest Detroit.
Records from the Michigan Department of Corrections show Lopez was released from prison on June 22. He previously served 12 years for a carjacking and assault on a police officer in 2011.
Said, 23, had been a Melvindale officer for only 14 months. He was the third Michigan police officer to die in the line of duty in less than a month.
“Police work is one of the most dangerous jobs on the planet,” prosecutor Kym Worthy said in a statement. “The alleged facts in this case will show that this defendant recklessly shot and killed 23-year-old Officer Mohamed Said, who was simply doing his job and had just begun his career in law enforcement. Tragically, what happened here is indescribable.”