Dearborn Heights police officer praised for helping catch man wanted in Detroit murder, Troy attack
(CBS DETROIT) - For Officer Emily Murdoch, protecting the streets of Dearborn Heights has been her job for the last six years. But finding 31-year-old Andrew Hall, a man wanted for murder, with her very own eyes is easily her biggest accomplishment.
"To be able to part of apprehending a murderer who has no care about anyone else, it makes you sleep better at night," Murdoch told CBS Detroit on Thursday.
Murdoch says she was out patrolling on Tuesday when she was called in to check out a parking complaint. While waiting in traffic on her way there, she says locked eyes with a face that was far too familiar to her.
"I'm driving, it's a little slow because of rush hour. I'm just looking around at people at what's going on. And he [Hall] is walking southbound as I'm going northbound. He looks back at me, and we make eye contact, a long pause eye contact like we know each other. I'm thinking in my head, 'Where do I know him from? I've seen his face. Where do I know him from?' And as soon as I drive past, I was like, oh my God, that's the guy who was part of the Troy attack and the Detroit murder," Murdoch says.
That is when Murdoch says she called for backup, but after circling around to try to track Hall down, he was gone.
"I instantly turn back around, and I'm trying to look for him, and I can't find him. I knew he was hiding, " Murdoch says.
However, he could not have gone too far, says Murdoch, because she knew what Hall did not.
"He didn't have resources to leave in a moment's notice. I knew if we did come in contact, we had a pretty good opportunity to apprehend this guy," Murdoch says,
In an effort to track him down, a perimeter was setup, and police began looking in local businesses located at a nearby strip mall in case Hall tried blending into the crowd. After nearly half an hour since their encounter, Murdoch says officers were able to find Hall.
"I showed up right as they were lifting him off the ground," Murdoch says. "I was able to review the video, and he just gave up."
Hall was taken into custody without harm, even though that was the only thing Murdoch thought of him: a harmful human being who would do anything to hurt someone...like when he tried attacking a woman at a Target in Troy last week, a woman just like her.
"I was at the station and came across the Troy victim's story on Facebook, and I can relate to it. I was reading it, and she has 1-year-old son. I have 1-year-old son. She's engaged, I'm engaged. I just felt so sad for her," Murdoch says.
But now that Hall is off the streets, all Murdoch can do now is smile, knowing he is no longer on them.
"When someone says, 'Hey, you are a hero,' Your reaction would be?" Murdoch was asked.
"Thank you. Yeah, thank you. This is a job, so as long as we can make the community a safer place, that is what I'm here for," Murdoch says.
Hall was given a $5.5 million bond for the attack in Troy.
He has not yet been charged in connection to the Detroit murder he's been accused of.
