SWEET HEART
Falmouth boy opens lemonade stand to aid recovering officers
EAST FALMOUTH — Family members of Malik Antonio Koval, accused of shooting two local cops Friday evening, said they are stunned by the 21-yearold’s uncharacteristic flash of violence.
“We’re trying to make sense of it ourselves. Malik is an absolutely wonderful kid, he’s been a wonderful kid and we really are just trying to figure this out on our own as a family,” said Emmalyn Anderson, 28, speaking on behalf of the family.
“It was something we definitely were very, very surprised by. There aren’t really the right words to say how sorry we truly are,” she added. “This is not something that he was ever taught to do and it’s something that breaks all of our hearts.”
Koval is accused of shooting officers Don DeMiranda and Ryan Moore inside a home on Ashley Drive in Falmouth, Cape and Islands District Attorney Michael O’Keefe said yesterday in a press release.
Both officers were responding to a disturbance in the area about 5:25 p.m. when they found Koval smashing bottles in the street, O’Keefe said. The suspect became agitated when officers tried to engage him and he then ran into a home on Ashley Street, the DA added.
O’Keefe said two individuals tried to interfere with the officers’ efforts to follow Koval, who then produced a gun and began shooting at the cops.
Officers returned fire and Koval was struck several times, O’Keefe said.
DeMiranda was shot in the shoulder area and in the chest, where a bulletproof vest stopped the bullet, O’Keefe said. Moore received a grazing wound to the neck from a bullet, but has since been released from Falmouth Hospital.
O’Keefe said Kimberly Koval, 38, and Marcus Maseda, 20, are being charged with obstruction of justice, assault and battery on a police officer and interfering with the duties of a police officer stemming from what happened Friday night.
Anderson said Malik Koval has been trying to get himself well mentally, and the family is hoping to get him the best medical care possible when released from the hospital and from police custody.
Bill Jennette, 46, who was in the area where the shooting occurred, said he’s thankful nobody was killed.
“I say thank God for body armor and thank God they were wearing it . ... It could have been a lot more of a somber occasion here, especially in a small town where most people do know the officers,” he said.
The shooting comes soon after the deaths of police Sgts. Michael Chesna and Sean Gannon, which rattled communities in Weymouth and Yarmouth, respectively.
“It sucks because it puts a bad rep on our road,” said 23-year-old Erin Daunt, who grew up in Falmouth. “I always see kids playing outside and it looks like a family-friendly house.”