2 OFFICERS SHOT IN FALMOUTH
Both expected to be OK; suspect in custody
EAST FALMOUTH — A cop’s bulletproof vest may have saved his life after he and his partner got into a shootout with a suspect who authorities say opened fire on the officers yesterday evening in this Cape Cod community.
One Falmouth officer was shot twice — once into his vest and once “above the vest,” Cape and Islands District Attorney Michael O’Keefe said.
The other officer was shot in the head, with the bullet “grazing” him, O’Keefe added. He was later treated and released from the hospital.
The hospitalized officer is being monitored for his wounds, but is “awake and talking to his family,” the DA said.
Both returned fire, hitting the suspect who was also taken to the hospital. The alleged shooter was identified by the DA’s office last night as Malik Antonio Koval, 21.
Russell Rezendes said he was grateful that his cousin, one of the officers shot, was alive.
“He’s OK, the other officer got released (from the hospital), and the kid got shot,” Rezendes said of the wild scene. “All these officers are really good officers. It’s a gamble out there. It’s a dangerous job. You don’t know what you’re in for.”
The first call came in at 5:25 p.m. for a man causing a disturbance, O’Keefe said. When the officers confronted him, he became “more and more agitated and finally produced a weapon” and began shooting.
The state police said last night the two officers were transported to Falmouth Hospital for treatment.
Koval first went to Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital — Plymouth, and was then flown by medical helicopter to a Boston hospital.
“Troopers from Troop D guarded the suspect while in the Plymouth hospital. Troopers assigned to Troop H will guard the suspect while at the Boston hospital,” state police added.
The scene of the shooting is a residential area not far from the ocean in East Falmouth.
The attack comes as police all over the region have come under attack — including two Bay State officers who were killed while on duty.
Thomas Latanowich, 30, is accused of murdering Yarmouth police Sgt. Sean Gannon. Gannon and his K-9, Nero, were shot on April 12 as they and six other officers attempted to serve a warrant to Latanowich in Barnstable.
Weymouth police Sgt. Michael Chesna, 42, was slain in the line of duty on July 15.
The father of two was fatally shot with his own service weapon while investigating a report of an erratic driver. He was posthumously promoted to sergeant after he was allegedly gunned down by Emanuel Lopes, 20, who is also accused of killing 77-year-old bystander Vera Adams.
O’Keefe last night said it’s a sad sign of the times when everyone is “grateful” the two Falmouth officers were only wounded.
“Imagine being grateful police officers are alive,” he said. “We need to remember it’s a dangerous job.”