Associated Press
GREENSBORO, N.C. -- A North Carolina man has been charged with murder in the fatal shooting of a police officer who was responding to a report of a man with a gun in a supermarket, authorities announced Tuesday.
Tarell Isaac McMillian, 34, has been charged with first-degree murder in the death of Greensboro Police Officer Michael Horan in a Food Lion on Monday, Greensboro Police said in a news release. He was being held without bond.
Horan served on the Beach Haven Beach Patrol from 1995 to 2017, according to the fundraising site helpahero.com, where money was being raised for Horan's funeral expenses by the Greensboro Police Officers Association. As of just before 7 p.m. Tuesday, the page had raised more than $91,000 toward a goal of $120,000.
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A post on the Beach Patrol's Facebook page said his fellow lifeguards knew him as "JR."
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Police said McMillian also faces multiple charges related to the vehicle pursuit that led to his arrest in Duplin County, about 150 miles southeast of Greensboro in the central part of the state. Online court records do not list an attorney who could speak on McMillian's behalf. Police said they were not seeking anyone else in the investigation.
Horan was responding to the report when he was shot shortly before midday at a Food Lion store in Greensboro. Authorities said Monday afternoon that the circumstances of the shooting remain under investigation. The North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation, the state's lead law enforcement agency, is continuing the investigation.
Horan was hired in 2017 and became a sworn Greensboro Police Department officer in early 2018, Assistant Police Chief Milford J. Harris said. Horan served in the department's patrol bureau. He also was a U.S. Coast Guard member since 2000, according to his LinkedIn profile. Like many Coasties, he underwent his training at the Coast Guard training center in Cape May.
"He was an excellent officer. He had an outstanding reputation inside the department and in the community," Harris said at a news conference.
North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper said on X later Monday that he extended his condolences to Horan's family and his fellow officers, saying the fallen officer was "courageously doing his duty protecting Greensboro when he became the victim of a senseless act of violence." He added that he was grateful for Horan's "brave, dedicated service."
The store will remain closed while authorities continue their investigation, Food Lion said in a statement, adding it was providing resources to its affected workers.
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