MELVINDALE, Mich. – Police from all over Metro Detroit are paying tribute to fallen Melvindale officer Mohamed Said, who was shot and killed in the line of duty this past Sunday.
Officer Said’s partner talked to Local 4 on Wednesday (July 24) about his personality and what it was like to serve alongside him.
Charges could come as soon as Thursday (July 25) against the suspected shooter, Michael Lopez, who was arrested Monday in southwest Detroit.
The Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office has been told they’ll receive a warrant request Thursday morning.
But the main focus is on officer Said himself. His partner spoke to Local 4 with a message that he wanted people to know.
Melvindale police officer Mo Hachem described what happened Sunday morning when his former partner, mentor, and friend, Said, could be heard on the radio saying he was out of his cruiser with two people who were on foot.
Then Said could be heard asking for backup. Knowing the dangers hidden in motels around Melvindale, Hachem, and others on duty sped to Said and then on the radio what Said’s final words would be.
“After the first transmission of dispatch, asking him ‘Where are you,’ and then we didn’t hear anything,” said Hachem. “Right away, I was like, ‘Send me everything that you got.’”
“He said, ‘I’m chasing one on foot,’ and dispatch was like, ‘Which directions,’ and then it was just dead silence.”
Hachem said when he didn’t hear Said respond, he had that feeling that you just can’t explain.
“It’s a feeling that, like, you watch it on TV shows, but I can’t explain the feeling,” Hachem said. “I can’t explain the feeling. I don’t know what to explain to you like what kind of feeling I got. We didn’t hear anything, and we were lost. We got to the scene, and it’s something you don’t want to experience in your life.”
New photos and videos of Said’s smile and the light that Said brought to his hometown of Melvindale were released on Wednesday.
“I just really want people to know in the city of Melvindale that this officer Said’s home,” said Hachem. “This city is his home, and he cares a lot about everybody, including every citizen in this place.”
A procession of Downriver police escorted Said’s cruiser to be on display at his viewing.
Said was killed on Dix Road, where Hachem says many motels welcomed danger, drugs, guns, and human trafficking into their rooms.
Said’s goal was to clean the motels out for the safety of Melvindale.
“Said’s goal was to shut these places down,” Hachem said. “We will carry it on.”
Visitation for officer Said will take place Thursday from 12 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Ford Center for Performing Arts in Dearborn.
Funeral services will occur Friday, at 11 a.m., at the Dearborn Mosque American Moslem Society on Vernor Highway.