A policewoman is dead and her common law husband is facing a charge of manslaugther. 31-year-old WPC Myrna Lopez was shot in the chest last night. But that's only half the story, which starts with a gunshot and ends in a car wreck. Our news team went north looking for answers.
Alfonso Noble Reporting,
On weekends, this tranquil recreation spot at grace bank off the Northern Highway is usually teeming with families from the villages along the northern highway who come out to take in the scenic beauty of the area. Today however it was police officers on duty who made a call after one of their own, Woman Police Constable Myrna Lopez was shot in the chest. At around 7:30 last night Mark Dawson was preparing to close up the pavilion when he asked this young man Andrew Armstrong to leave.
Mark Dawson,
“I was just trying to clear the stairs. I told the guy to get off the stairs and go away.”
Alfonso Noble,
And who was that guy?
Mark Dawson,
“Andrew. And then I thought everything was over and then I came back inside and then after a while the gun went off.”
While Dawson says he only heard the gunshot and knows little else. Those who
were there tell us that an argument arose outside between Armstrong and PC Lopez’s boyfriend, Ken Young, and another young man identified as Robert Dominguez. During that argument young allegedly pulled out his licensed firearm and pistol-whipped Dominguez to the face. As he did the gun went off hitting the policewoman to the chest.
Lopez’s sister today spoke to us but wished not to appear on camera.
Sister of Deceased,
“Her two kids were with her in the vehicle and at the time of the incident, I think they were there too. I think they saw everything. I don’t really know. Besides that, I don’t really know what happened. I wasn’t there. I would like to get to the bottom of the story because I am hearing different stories. And then with the incident he took her, put her in the car, and they drove this side and they crashed.”
That crash occurred shortly after the shooting when in a frenzied state, Young picked up Lopez and placed her in the back seat of the vehicle. He then drove out of Grace Bank and onto the Northern Highway where about two or three miles later at the intersection of the highway and the Maskall cut off, he collided into a lamppost. By that time Lopez has already died as a result of a single gunshot she received to the chest. Now family members are in a state of complete disbelief.
Sister of Deceased,
“It is a shock for me because I didn’t expect this to happen. They always go to Sandhill on Sundays. They always go there and do their evening walk and for this to come to me like this, it is really a shock; really a shock.”
When the car crashed, the already dead Constable Lopez was inside with her two children and her boyfriend. Lopez’s boyfriend Ken Young is expected to be arraigned tomorrow.
