OFFICER, CIVILIAN SLAIN
Suspect allegedly used cop’s gun
A 20-year-old man with a history of run-ins with police is accused of murdering a Weymouth officer with his own gun and killing a woman with a stray bullet through a glass door as cops pursued the suspect through a quiet neighborhood early yesterday.
Emanuel “Manny” Lopes, 20, of Weymouth is due to be arraigned today on two counts of murder in the deaths of officer Michael Chesna and a Weymouth woman. Lopes was free on bail on charges of dealing cocaine to minors and resisting arrest from last October.
The horror that shattered the calm of a Sunday morning in South Weymouth began with a report of an erratic driver just after 7:30 a.m. near South Shore Medical Center, followed by a singlecar crash in the area.
Chesna was dispatched to investigate and found Lopes “actively vandalizing” a home at the corner of Burton Terrace and Torrey Street, authorities say.
Chesna pulled out his gun and ordered Lopes to stop.
“Lopes then attacked Officer Chesna it is believed with a large stone,” said Assistant Norfolk District Attorney Gregory Connor, who led a sober news conference in the lobby of the Weymouth Police Department yesterday afternoon.
Chesna fell to the ground. Lopes grabbed his gun and fired several times at Chesna’s head and chest, killing the officer, Connor said.
Backup units began to arrive, and Lopes ran, with officers chasing him on foot. Lopes exchanged fire with the cops, firing Chesna’s weapon at least three more times, authorities say.
At least one of those shots struck a woman in her home through a sliding glass door, killing her. Authorities yesterday evening were withholding her name as they sought her next of kin.
April Visco, 43, a mother of three young daughters and a nursing student at South Shore Medical Center, said she was making a cheese omelette yesterday at 7:30 a.m. — a time when she typically would be out for a run where the bullets were flying.
“We heard 10 gunshots — then there was like a pause — and then there was another 10,” said Visco, who rushed to get her parents and children away from the front windows and door. She said he saw a man in a bright yellow shirt running wildly.
The Weymouth officers chasing Lopes shot him in the lower leg as he fled and then captured him, police said. “We heard, ‘Drop your weapon!’ and then we heard, ‘Get on the ground!’” Visco said. “In 10 minutes, not even, three officers had him cuffed. They put him in a cruiser on Torrey Street.”
Venturing out later, Visco said, “All the officers were really upset, you could tell. It’s just really upsetting.”
Lopes is due to be arraigned today either in Quincy District Court or from South Shore Medical Center, where he was taken after he was caught.
Weymouth police Chief Richard Grimes said Chesna became a Weymouth police officer six years ago today. Grimes said the 42-year-old Army veteran had worked hard to become a cop. He leaves behind a wife and two young children.
“He was a great family man, a great officer,” Grimes said. “He always had a kind word.”
Lopes has had previous run-ins with the law. Weymouth police arrested him in October on charges of selling cocaine to minors and fleeing from police. He was held on $5,040 bail, The Patriot Ledger reported at the time. The Norfolk DA’s office declined to comment on his criminal history yesterday.
Weymouth police wrote in the October arrest report that Lopes is well known to local authorities: “We have fought with him before,” the Ledger reported at that time.
Officers from around the region and regular citizens alike showed up at the Weymouth police station in increasing numbers as the day went on. Cops from neighboring cities and towns such as Quincy, Braintree and Hingham provided support — both official manpower and simply a comforting presence.
Weymouth residents who heard the horrible news came to the police station with flowers, food and words of commiseration.
Tom Jenner, who came with flowers, broke down in tears upon seeing a photo of Chesna. Jenner told the Herald he had seen Chesna around the housing complex for senior citizens and the disabled where he lives. Jenner said the officer was always courteous — “a good guy, very personable. Just there to help people.”
Maureen Walsh, also bearing flowers, said, “This is just devastating for our police and our community.”
Mark Dickerson and his family brought cookies and Red Bull.
“We just appreciate what they do here,” Dickerson said.