Community grieves slain Melvindale Police Officer Mohammed Said at visitation

It was a somber sight: Melvindale Police Officer Mohamed Said's police cruiser, draped with a blue and black flag.

Mourners filed past the vehicle, parked outside the Ford Community & Performing Arts Center in Dearborn, to pay their respects to the 26-year-old police officer who was killed Sunday while responding to a call near a gas station on Oakwood Boulevard and Dix Road. A suspect, 44-year-old Michael Lopez, is facing multiple charges in the case.

"Officer Said was a brother, a best friend, a partner," said Melvindale police officer Hussein Ayoub. "We met a long time before we became police officers and he was one of the reasons why I came to Melvindale."

The public visitation is being held until 8 p.m. Attendees included Dearborn Mayor Abdullah Hammoud and city councilmembers, along with officers from several metro Detroit police departments.

Said was a beloved figure in Melvindale, growing up between his native Yemen and the downriver Michigan community, he became a star soccer player for the Melvindale High School Cardinals and decided at a young age to become a police officer, family and friends said.

Samantha Elliott met Said while photographing his soccer games for a local newspaper and went on to teach at Melvindale High School during his senior year.

"He was so much more than the star soccer player, he cared so much about his teammates, he loved people coming to watch him, he loved having the small city show up for everything," Elliott said.

Organizers handed attendees blue ribbons to commemorate the fallen officer as they approached the building, and police officers waited inside to escort them into the Lincoln Ballroom.

A line of diverse community members filed through the room as Quran recitation echoed across the ballroom's high ceilings, encompassing the wave of grief pouring through this community. Mourners waited in turn to pay their respects at Said's open casket, guarded on both sides by police officers and American flags. Each person honored Said in their respective faith tradition, including Muslim and Christian prayers. As they made their way out of the room, many stopped to greet Said's family members, seated off to the right.

Qais Yahya, Said's cousin, recalled growing up together in Yemen and later Melvindale, where they attended the same high school and worked jobs together.

"We had a brothers' relationship, he was very close to me, he meant something," Yahya said.

Tributes underway

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer on Thursday ordered all U.S. and Michigan flags across the state to be lowed to half-staff Friday to honor Said.

Some local businesses are fundraising for his family this week. Dearborn's Dairy Queen location at 4600 Greenfield Road will donate 100% of proceeds from mini-blizzard purchases to Said's family, the business announced on its Facebook profile. The Prime Suds Laundromat at 18585 Allen Road in Melvindale will be open 24 hours Wednesday-Friday and will donate 100% of proceeds from sales during these three days to Said's family, the business said in a Facebook post.

Services for Said will continue Friday with law enforcement honors, procession and staging at the Ford Community and Performing Arts Center in Dearborn at 8 a.m., followed by an 11 a.m. funeral at the American Moslem Society in Dearborn and burial.