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An Alabama police officer has died after being shot on Sunday, according to the Mobile Police Department.

Officer Sean Tuder, 30, was shot by a suspect with prior warrants while doing follow up work on an investigation, Police Chief Lawrence Batiste told a press conference covered by CNN affiliate WKRG.

Mobile Police Department Officer Sean Tuder, 30, who was shot and killed in the line of duty on Jan. 20, 2019, pictured in a photo released by Mobile, Alabama Mayor Sandy Stimpson.
Mobile Police Department Officer Sean Tuder, 30, who was shot and killed in the line of duty on Jan. 20, 2019, pictured in a photo released by Mobile, Alabama Mayor Sandy Stimpson.

The suspect, Marco Perez, 19, was taken into custody, he said.

WKRG reported that District Attorney Ashley Rich has authorized capital murder charges against Perez.

Officer was ‘a true leader’

Batiste told reporters that Tuder had been with the department less than five years.

“He was one of those guys that certainly resonates in your mind as somebody that’s a true leader and had a true commitment to doing his best in this community to keep it safe and to be a role model for others,” he said.

“He was really just getting into that part of his career where he started having an impact on not just the people in the community but the men and women who work here in this department.”

Batiste asked for the community’s prayers, saying: “Keep Officer Tuder’s family in your prayers; his wife, his mom and dad, and his in-laws because this is going to be a difficult time.”

The police chief also urged media to be patient as authorities investigated the shooting. “Right now we’re just really trying to make sense of it and trying to hold each other up, and so please work with us,” he said.

The Mobile Police Department website lists Tuder as Officer of the Month in July 2017.

It said Tuder had joined the Mobile Police Department in March 2016 and worked in a high-crime area in Precinct 1. Prior to that he had experience as a K-9 officer.

“Tuder is commended for his numerous drug arrests, with four cases being sent for federal prosecution, and recovering six firearms,” a media release on his award said.

Fifth officer shot dead in 2019

Tuder is the fifth officer to be gunned down in the line of duty so far in 2019.

Seven other officers have been killed on the job, four in firearms related deaths and three in traffic accidents, according to the National law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund.

In Birmingham, Alabama, Sgt. Wytasha Carter was fatally shot early January 13 while investigating a call about vehicle burglaries, police said.

He and another officer had encountered two suspects when one of them pulled out a weapon and fired. The officers and one of the suspects were shot. A second suspect was taken into custody.

In Davis, California, a man on a bicycle shot Officer Natalie Corona, 22, on January 10 as she responded to a triple-car crash, police said.

A manhunt ended hours later, when police found the suspect dead with a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Provo Master Police Officer Joseph Shinners, was shot and killed in Orem, Utah, on January 5, the Officer Down Memorial Page says. It says Shinners was with officers from the Provo and Orem police departments who were trying to arrest a fugitive, when the fugitive opened fire.

The officer died in the hospital that night from his injuries , it said.

In Shreveport, Louisiana, newly hired Officer Chatéri Payne was in uniform and getting ready for work when she was gunned down January 9, police said.

At the time police said it was not known what led to the killing.