Cop from New Jersey killed in N.C. supermarket shooting

A police officer who worked for decades as a Jersey Shore cop was shot and killed by a gunman at a grocery store in North Carolina.

Greensboro, North Carolina Police Officer Michael Horan was responding to the report when he was shot shortly before midday at a Food Lion store.

Tarell Isaac McMillian, 34, has been charged with first-degree murder.

Horan served on the Beach Haven Beach Patrol from 1995 to 2017 and achieved the rank of lieutenant.

"Horrific. Two days before Christmas and a father is killed in the line of duty," the New Jersey State Policemen’s Benevolent Association said on Facebook.

Ric Anastasi, a surf and paddle instructor in Beach Have, shared on Facebook that Horan was well-known in the shore community.

"He was a great guard and friend, and went on the lead in a federal government role for the US Coast Guard," he said. "Rest in peace, Michael Horan. You were great at everything you did, sir."

Michael Horan, this person is well known to Beach Haven, and the Beach Haven Beach Patrol. I worked alongside and probably helped train him when he started. He was a great guard and friend, and went on the lead in a federal government role for the US Coast Guard.

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.

“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.”

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.

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