An Alabama police officer has died after being shot on Sunday, according to the Mobile Police Department.  Officer Sean Tuder, 30, was shot by a suspect with prior warrants while doing follow up work on an investigation, Police Chief Lawrence Battiste said at a press conference.

The suspect, Marco Perez, 19, was taken into custody, he said.  District Attorney Ashley Rich has authorized capital murder charges against Perez.

Battiste told reporters that Tuder had been with the department less than five years.  “He was one of those guys that certainly resonates in your mind as somebody that’s a true leader and had a true commitment to doing his best in this community to keep it safe and to be a role model for others,” he said.  “He was really just getting into that part of his career where he started having an impact on not just the people in the community but the men and women who work here in this department.”

Battiste asked for the community’s prayers, saying: “Keep Officer Tuder’s family in your prayers; his wife, his mom and dad, and his in-laws because this is going to be a difficult time.”

Tuder is the fifth officer to be gunned down in the line of duty so far in 2019.  Seven other officers have been killed on the job, four in firearms-related deaths and three in traffic accidents, according to the National law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund.

In Birmingham, Alabama, Sgt. Wytasha Carter was fatally shot early January 13 while investigating a call about vehicle burglaries, police said.  He and another officer had encountered two suspects when one of them pulled out a weapon and fired. The officers and one of the suspects were shot. A second suspect was taken into custody.