Saturday, July 24, 2010
By Rene Cizio, Nate Stemen & Jason Alley
TAYLOR — The Police Department suffered the ultimate loss Friday morning when one of its own was killed in the line of duty.
Cpl. Matthew Edwards, 31, a decorated officer, was fatally shot at about 6 a.m. while responding to a call of a breaking and entering at Coppertree Apartments, near North Line and Telegraph roads.
Edwards began speaking in the parking lot with a 36-year-old Westland man who allegedly was trying to break into an apartment through a window.
Witnesses said they saw the man pull out a gun and shoot Edwards at close range.
Edwards’ partner returned fire, wounding the man, who police have identified as Tyress Mathews.
Mathews has a long criminal history, having most recently been discharged from prison in September after serving three years for fleeing from a police officer.
Prior to that, he served 12 years behind bars after taking a plea deal to three counts of assault with the intent to murder and one count of armed robbery. He was released from prison on that case in January 2004.
After Friday's shooting, Edwards and Mathews were both taken to Oakwood Hospital & Medical Center in Dearborn, which is the nearest trauma center. Edwards was pronounced dead a short time later. Mathews was said to be undergoing surgery Friday afternoon and is expected to survive. He could be arraigned on murder charges as early as Saturday, police said.
Edwards joined the force in January 2005. He was chosen as the department’s officer of the year in 2008 by the Police Officers Association of Michigan.
He is survived by his wife, Shannon, and their two young children.
During a press conference at City Hall, police Cmdr. Dan Crowell held back tears as he said it was a very sad day for the department.
Crowell said Edwards and his partner were responding to a breaking-and-entering call in the 12400 block of Pine Street in the Coppertree complex.
The call was made by a resident in another apartment who told police she saw a man trying to climb though a neighbor’s window.
When the officers arrived, they saw Mathews, who fit the description given by the witness, in the parking lot. Police said Mathews knew the people who lived in the apartment.
“We believe it might have stemmed more from a domestic violence than a home invasion,” Crowell said.
Several neighbors said Mathews is married to the woman in the apartment he was trying to enter and that they have a long history of domestic violence. They said the two also have a child.
Keta Holmes, a neighbor, said the situation started at about 2:30 a.m. and went on for hours.
“He was banging on his wife’s door and she wouldn’t let him in and he was in his car calling her on his phone for about three hours,” she said.
Holmes said Mathews had a book bag in his hands and police asked him to put it down. Holmes said that as he put it down, Mathews reached inside and pulled out a gun.
Holmes said Edwards went down and his partner began firing. She said several shots were fired, there was a pause and then another five to seven rounds were fired.
Another neighbor, Jernee Bates, said he also saw the book bag.
Bates said Edwards asked Mathews what was in the bag. The man bent down to the bag and that’s when Bates heard a “pop” noise.
“He came out with a gun and shot (Edwards) in the head,” Bates said.
Bates said Mathews was still shooting while he was shot before he finally dropped the gun.
Another neighbor, Ricky Jones, said the suspect ran about 100 yards before falling.
Jones said he looked out of his window and saw blood on Mathews and a police officer standing over him with his gun drawn.
“It sounded like Vietnam, like I was back in the war,” Jones said.
Ernest Allen, who also lives near the shooting site, said he heard about a dozen shots.
“It woke me up, and I heard about a good 10 or 12 gunshots,” he said. “I wasn’t really sure what happened.”
Neighbors said crime has been rampant lately at the apartment complex, which has a long history of violence.
Another neighbor said she recently posted a notice on her door alerting visitors that everyone in her apartment was legally armed.
Crowell did not confirm a problem with violence at the apartments, but said, “We’ve had our incidents at that complex.”
Police said they were interviewing several witnesses.
Crowell said Edwards made the ultimate sacrifice.
“It’s something we sometimes take for granted when we put on our uniforms every day,” he said. “As law enforcement officers, we all expect to go home at night to our families.”
It is the first time an officer has been killed in the line of duty in department history. Flags were lowered to half staff at the municipal complex, which includes the police station and main fire station. Officers wore black bands around their badges.
A police chaplain was on site Friday to counsel grieving officers.
Michigan State Police are assisting in the investigation.
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