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Slain Melvindale Police Officer Mohamed Said laid to rest

Funeral held for fallen Melvindale police officer
Funeral held for fallen Melvindale police officer 02:49

DEARBORN, Mich. (CBS DETROIT) – In Melvindale, Dearborn, and neighboring Detroit, people lined the streets Friday to pay tribute to fallen Police Officer Mohamed Said.

The streets surrounding the American Moslem Society in Dearborn were packed with police cruisers as far as the eye could see. At least 1,000 members of law enforcement attended his funeral service.

Said was investigating a call on Sunday about a suspicious person, who ended up getting into a fight with Said and shooting him during that struggle.

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Pool

"He was born to be a police officer," said Melvindale Police Chief Robert Kennaley.

Kennaley remembers meeting Said when he was just a teen soccer star growing up in Melvindale.

"I've had a lot of individuals come up to me asking that question: How do I be the police? But I could tell with Mo, he had determination in his eyes. It was a life-calling for Mo. This is what he wanted," Kennaley said.

Said earned his badge just 14 months ago.

"If Mo was patrolling to get out of the car and play soccer with some of the kids that were outside, or going into the neighbor's — you know the neighborhoods — and talking to people on their front porches, just because that's who Mo was, the only thing that I could give is to be Mo — don't just remember him; resemble him," Kennaley said.

Said is survived by his parents.

Following the funeral service, there was a procession to his final resting place, Woodmere Cemetery in Detroit.

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