Mobile Police Officer Sean Tuder, 30, was fatally shot Sunday, Jan. 20, while attempting to serve an arrest warrant near the Peach Place Inn apartment complex on Leroy Stevens Road, marking the second time in less than a year that the department has lost an officer in the line of duty.
Mobile Police Chief Lawrence Battiste said the man accused in the shooting, 19-year-old Marco Perez, had been evading local, state and federal authorities on multiple outstanding warrants. Tuder, who was off duty at the time, had requested and received authorization to check out a tip that Perez had been spotted at the apartment complex.
According to Battiste, Tuder coordinated with a supervisor and asked for backup before heading to the scene, but he arrived alone and in an unmarked vehicle, dressed in plain clothes. Perez approached the vehicle before other officers reached the location.
“When Officer Tuder pulled into the parking lot of Peach Place, Perez approached his vehicle at a rapid rate and caused Officer Tuder to take action,” Battiste said. “They engaged in a scuffle, and at some point, Perez pulled a weapon and shot Officer Tuder multiple times.”
Battiste said Tuder had been investigating Perez for months and that investigators have not ruled out the possibility Perez recognized him from previous encounters. Police also confirmed that responding backup officers were not immediately aware Tuder had been shot, though it remains unclear how or when that was discovered.
Tuder was rushed to Providence Hospital in a police cruiser but ultimately died from his injuries. Officials have not disclosed where he was shot or how many times, saying additional details would remain limited while the investigation and prosecution move forward. Perez is expected to be arraigned Tuesday, Jan. 29, and Mobile County District Attorney Ashley Rich said he will face a capital murder charge.
The loss comes less than a year after Officer Justin Billa was killed in the line of duty on Feb. 21, 2018, while responding to a domestic disturbance call. Battiste said the back-to-back tragedies have been especially difficult for the department to process.
“For the family of our officer, and the men and women who wear the uniform and badge, this is a time of grief for us. We’re trying to make sense of how we can have another brother lose his life in less than a year,” Battiste said. “We just ask the community to keep us in your prayers along with [Officer Tuder’s] family. This is going to be a difficult time.”
Tuder joined the Mobile Police Department in March 2016 and quickly built a reputation within the ranks. After working in the department’s First Precinct, an area MPD identifies as high crime, he was named Officer of the Month in July 2017 after making numerous drug and gun arrests, some of which led to federal cases. That month alone, he responded to 110 calls, backed up fellow officers 57 times, and made 13 felony and 55 misdemeanor arrests.
Despite less than three years on the force, Battiste said Tuder had already made a lasting impression on both the community and his fellow officers. “He was one of those guys that certainly resonates in your mind as someone who’s a true leader and doing his best in this community to keep people safe and be a role model for others,” Battiste said. “He was one of those officers that believed in mentoring and helping to bring other officers along as well.”
Mobile Mayor Sandy Stimpson, who met Tuder when he was honored as Officer of the Month, called him an outstanding officer who accomplished a great deal in a short time with the department. “He was really on a fast track — a very aspiring officer and one that was destined to do great things,” Stimpson said, describing the loss as a tremendous blow to both the department and the city.
Before joining MPD, Tuder began his law enforcement career in Florida, where he grew up. He graduated from Fleming Island High School, trained at the criminal justice academy at St. Johns River State College, and went on to serve with the Palatka Police Department. He drew national attention in 2015 after shooting a 15-year-old robbery suspect who allegedly racked a shotgun and aimed it at him during a residential burglary call. Tuder was not injured, the teenager survived, and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement cleared Tuder after an investigation into the shooting. Two suspects were later arrested and charged with armed burglary in that case.
News of Tuder’s death spread quickly among officers and residents in both Florida and Alabama, with many sharing memories of his generosity. One Palatka resident recalled him personally paying for baby supplies for a young mother in need. “I’ll never forget, when he found out a young mother here in Palatka was out of a few things for her baby, Officer Tuder took money out of his own wallet and made sure that baby had what it needed,” she wrote in a Facebook post.
In addition to his police work, Tuder served as a specialist in a local Alabama National Guard unit. Members of the 173rd Infantry Unit joined District Attorney Rich in expressing condolences this week. “Not only was he serving our community as a police officer, but he was also serving our country, because that’s the kind of man he was,” Rich said. “He was a man of service.”
Perez, the man accused in Tuder’s death, was already known to local law enforcement before Sunday’s shooting. He was arrested three times in 2018, including as a suspect in a string of at least 18 vehicle break-ins across Mobile. Because he was a juvenile at the time and was granted youthful offender status, most details of that case remain sealed, though court filings from an unrelated charge indicate he faced at least 12 counts of breaking and entering.
Mobile County Metro Jail records show Perez was also charged with unauthorized use of a vehicle in 2018 and later pleaded guilty to leaving the scene of an accident, for which he received six months of probation under District Judge George Hardesty. In November, federal authorities indicted him on a charge of possessing a stolen firearm, with a trial scheduled for February. Investigators say Perez had gone on the run in the weeks before Tuder’s death, trying to avoid both that trial and a pending probation violation charge in state court.
Perez had also made headlines earlier this month after his mother, 38-year-old Tiffany Perez, was arrested in connection with an alleged scheme to fake his kidnapping and death, which police say was an attempt to help him avoid his pending charges. She filed a missing person’s report in early January claiming she had not seen her son since New Year’s Eve, then later told local television reporters she had received a text message suggesting he was dead. Police quickly determined the claims were false after tracking Perez down, and both mother and son were charged with filing a false police report. Perez ran from officers during that encounter and remained at large until his confrontation with Tuder on Sunday.
District Attorney Rich said her office will pursue a capital murder charge against Perez, noting that the killing of a peace officer meets the threshold for the state’s most serious charge, which carries a possible sentence of life in prison or the death penalty. She said Perez, whom she described as homeless, had spent the days before the shooting evading police and living in the woods, and that he was believed to be only a visitor at the Peach Place complex. Rich did not rule out additional charges against Tiffany Perez as the investigation continues. “The evidence is still unfolding and this is still an active investigation,” she said.
Mobile has now lost three officers in the line of duty in recent years, though Sunday’s case marks the first since 2012 that did not end with the suspect’s death during the incident itself. Lawrence Wallace Jr. was killed by officers in 2012 after fatally stabbing Officer Steven Green, and Robert Hollie died by suicide last year after fatally shooting Officer Billa and barricading himself inside his home.
On Monday, District Judge Joe Basenberg ordered Perez held without bond, citing his criminal record and the danger he poses to the community. Battiste and Rich, who have both raised concerns in the past about the use of judicial bonds, praised the decision. “We are thankful and happy the district attorney’s office was able to convince the court that no bond was the appropriate action in this case,” Battiste said. “We’ve made it through the first hurdle and her office has done a great job in making sure Mr. Perez will remain incarcerated.” Perez is scheduled to be arraigned on capital murder and false police report charges at 8:30 a.m. Jan. 29, and Rich said he is expected to plead not guilty.
Dozens of police cruisers escorted Tuder’s body to a funeral home Monday, with thousands of officers, firefighters, motorists and residents lining the streets and bridges along the route, some saluting or holding American flags and others standing quietly with their hands over their hearts. Tuder is the 20th Mobile officer to die in the line of duty in the department’s history, and the fifth law enforcement officer killed nationwide so far this year, following the Jan. 13 death of Birmingham Police Sgt. Wytasha Carter, who was killed confronting a burglary suspect.
Tributes have poured in from officials across the state and country in the days since. U.S. Rep. Bradley Byrne called Tuder “a hero who put his life on the line so that others could sleep sound at night,” while Gov. Kay Ivey described him as “an exceptional young officer.” “This senseless tragedy has sadly taken the life of yet another Mobile police officer, far too soon, and stands as a reminder of the sacrifices made by those who wear the badge,” Ivey said. As she did following Carter’s death, Ivey ordered flags at all Alabama state buildings flown at half-staff through Jan. 27 in Tuder’s honor.
Around Mobile, residents have organized fundraisers to support Tuder’s family, including bracelet and T-shirt sales with proceeds going toward funeral expenses. A Facebook page titled “Remembering MPD Officer Sean Tuder” has become a central hub for tracking memorial events and fundraising efforts, and the department is accepting donations for the family through the Mobile Law Enforcement Foundation.
Tuder’s wife, Krissy, has said little publicly but extended an invitation for the community to pay its final respects, writing, “come give me a hug and say goodbye to our hero.” Two public visitations have been scheduled at Dauphin Way Baptist Church: Thursday, Jan. 24, from 5 to 8 p.m., and Friday, Jan. 25, from 10 to 11 a.m. A private funeral and graveside service will follow at Mobile Memorial Gardens Cemetery on Three Notch-Kroner Road.
Much of Tuder’s family remains in Florida, and in a statement to media there, relatives thanked residents across Mobile and the Gulf Coast for their prayers and support while asking for privacy as they grieve the loss of, in their words, “our beloved Sean.”