A somber scene at SAMMC early today, as a police honor guard escorted the body of fallen Officer Miguel Moreno from the hospital where he died to the Medical Examiner's office, News Radio 1200 WOAI reports.
Many of the officers went to SAMMC on their own time at 2AM today to show their respects for Moreno, who was shot and killed by an ex con during a routine operation just north of downtown Thursday afternoon.
A little earlier in the evening, police announced the arrest of William Lawson, 30. He was walking down Evergreen Street with Andrew Bice when Officer Moreno and his partner, Officer Julio Cavazos, stopped to ask them questions about a recent string of car burglaries.
Police Chief William McManus says Lawson complied, but Bice pulled out a gun and started shooting, mortally wounding Officer Moreno and critically wounding Officer Cavazos.
As Bice tried to run away, Officer Cavazos shot him in the buttocks. He then shot himself in the head, killing himself.
McManus says Lawson is charged with gun and heroin possession, both charges unrelated to Thursday's shooting.
Chief McManus also opened up in the tragedies suffered by his force, with two officers killed and a third critically wounded in seven months.
"I'm angry at the police haters, I'm sick of the police haters," McManus told a 'Coffee with the Cops' event Saturday. "We protect them, and they give us the big F.U."
McManus also commented on the Thursday shooting."I have never seen such evil," he said. "I don't know how that much evil can get into one person."