Army infantry war vet, officer killed with own weapon after being struck with rock

The Massachusetts police officer killed in the line of duty over the weekend was a veteran of the 10th Mountain Division and the war in Afghanistan prior to joining the Weymouth PD.

42-year-old Michael Chesna was killed Sunday morning, succumbing to his wounds after being shot multiple times in the chest and head.

A six-year veteran of WPD and a native of Weymouth, Chesna joined the department in 2012 as a replacement for one of three retiring officers.

Prior to police work, Chesna was stationed at New York’s Fort Drum army base, serving his nation from November 2006 to June 2011.

According to CNN, Chesna chose the US Army as a career progression path to law enforcement.

Chesna was responding to an “erratic driver” call on Sunday when he discovered a crashed vehicle and suspect Emmanuel Lopes vandalizing a house. Drawing his sidearm and ordering Lopes to stand down, Chesna exercised restraint when dealing with the suspect and was subsequently struck in the head with a rock, knocking him to the ground.

Lopes savagely took advantage of the situation, using Chesna’s own sidearm to execute him.

Other officers at the scene took shots at Lopes as he fled, striking him once in the leg. Not yet finished with his rampage, he wildly returned fire, fatally hitting a female resident in her home.

Lopes was eventually captured by police and taken to the hospital for a non life-threatening wound, and will be arraigned today on two counts of homicide.

While the death penalty was abolished in Massachusetts back in 1984, it can still be used for federal crimes committed in the state.

Chesna leaves behind a wife and two children, aged four and nine.

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