Officer Michael Krol
Officer Michael Krol
Officer Michael Krol was a 9 year veteran Police officer r of the Dallas Police Department. He grew up in Redford, Michigan and is a 1994 graduate of East Longmeadow High School where he also played for the Football and Basketball teams. In the mid 1990s, the family moved from Western Massachusetts to Michigan.
Officer Krol previously worked as the Wayne County sheriff’s deputy for the Wayne County Jail system. His first job after graduating high school was working as a security guard for a Michigan hospital. In high school Krol played basketball.
2016 Dallas Police Protest Shooting Death
On July 7th, 2016, following the protest and rally over the deaths of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile, Michael was one of the officers protecting the crowd from U.S. Army veteran Micah Johnson unleashing of gun fire on the Police Officers.
His mother made the following statement about her son's death:
“He was living a dream of being a police officer.
He just turned 40 in April.
He knew the danger of the job but he never shied away from his duty as a police officer.
He grew up in Michigan.
He was a Wayne County Sheriff’s deputy and with the Dallas Police Department for nine years.
He was a great, caring person and he wanted to help people.
He was a wonderful son, brother, uncle, nephew and friend.”
His brother in law, Brian Schoenbaechler said, “He always wanted to be a cop,” and that “He always wanted to help and serve other people.
He was also a Detroiter at heart.”
Brian said that Officer Krol moved to Dallas because the city was heavily recruiting police officers and the Detroit Police Department was not hiring at the time.
“That’s the only reason he left,” Schoenbaechler said.
“He really wanted to be a cop.
That was his dream.
It was an opportunity.”
A press conference was given by Dallas Police Department Chief David Brown:
“Police officers are guardians of this great democracy, the freedom to protest, the freedom of speech, the freedom of expression, all freedoms we fight for with our lives, it’s what makes us who we are as Americans.
So we risk our lives for those rights, so we won’t militarize our policing standards, but we will do it in a much safer way every time.”
Brown asked everyone to praise the men and women who serve and protect.
“We don’t feel much support most days, let’s not make today most days.
Please, we need your support to be able to protect you from men like these who carried out this tragic, tragic event.
Pray for these families.”
“We’re hurting.
Our profession is hurting.
There are no words to describe the atrocity that happened in our city,” Brown added.
“All I know is that this must stop — this divisiveness between our police and our citizens.”