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Weymouth, Ma. Police Chief Richard Grimes identified the officer
as Michael Chesna, 42, and said the name of the elderly woman
would be released after her next of kin were notified.
Officials said police responded to a report of a man driving
erratically about 7:30 a.m. in the south Boston town, and that
the man had crashed the vehicle and was running away when Chesna
arrived on the scene.
Chesna chased the man, identified by police as 20-year-old
Emanuel Lopes, when he picked up a large rock and hit Chesna in
the head, officials said.
Chesna fell to the ground, officials said, and Lopes took his
service pistol and shot Chesna several times in the head and
chest.
Other responding officers chased Lopes, who continued to fire at
police. A stray bullet was fired into a nearby house, killing
the woman.
Lopes was wounded by a gunshot from the police and was arrested
and taken to a nearby hospital where he remained early Monday,
officials said. His condition was stable.
It was unclear if he would be arraigned at the hospital or at a
courthouse. No other information on Lopes was immediately
available.
Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker wrote on Twitter: "I am
deeply saddened to learn of the passing of Officer Chesna and an
innocent bystander today and my thoughts and prayers are with
their families."
A visibly shaken Grimes said during a news conference Sunday
that Chesna was a U.S. Army veteran of the Iraq and Afghanistan
wars and had a wife and two children.
"He was just a great family man, he was a great officer," Grimes
said.
(Reporting by Rich McKay in Atlanta; Editing by Alison Williams)
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