SLAIN COP PROMOTED
Thousands gather at Weymouth vigil
Slain Weymouth police Sgt. Michael Chesna’s mother stood before a crowd of more than 2,000 at a vigil for her fallen son, speaking out for him and her town.
“My son would be so proud,” his mother, Maryann “Mimi” Chesna, told the crowd at Weymouth High School last night. “And I have never been prouder to be from Weymouth.”
Michael Chesna, 42, an Army veteran of Iraq and Afghanistan and a six-year officer, was posthumously promoted to sergeant yesterday. He was shot dead Sunday with his own gun when confronting a suspect. Police say Emanuel Lopes, 20, took Chesna down with a rock, took his gun and pumped 10 bullets into him as he lay on the pavement.
Chesna’s chief pushed back last night at the criticism that police have faced over the use of force.
At a vigil that drew thousands to Weymouth High, police Chief Richard Grimes said what happened to Chesna was tragic but unsurprising.
“As force is presented to us, we have split seconds to react,” Grimes told the crowd. “So much emphasis is put on whether there’s a weapon . ... Everybody in this country should put themselves in that splitsecond moment. You tell me: Is a rock just a rock?”
Lopes is also accused of killing Vera Adams, a 77-year-old widow, who was struck by a stray bullet in her home. He now faces two counts of murder.
“It’s not until police officers are … supported that this will stop,” Grimes said. “We are saddened beyond belief.”