COLOMA TOWNSHIP, Mich. — The man charged in the murder of a woman in Alpine Township was arrested in the parking lot of a church, the Coloma Township Police Department said.
Around 7:30 a.m. on Saturday, Gilberto Hernandez-Mendez was taken into police custody at Revive Church in Coloma Township for allegedly shooting and killing Norma Ramirez-Martinez and wounding two others, an incident that took place earlier that morning, around 2:30 a.m. at the Westgate Village Townhouses in Alpine Township in Kent County.
Per U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the 42-year-old suspect was in the United States illegally and now faces deportation.
READ MORE: Alpine Township deadly shooting suspect is in the country illegally, per ICE
"It feels good, putting a violent suspect away," said Tommy Simspon, the Coloma Township police officer who made the arrest.
On Tuesday, he spoke to FOX 17 over the phone.
While on patrol on Saturday morning, Simpson heard about the murder from Berrien County Dispatch, which also told him to be on the lookout for the suspect's green Dodge Ram pickup truck.
At the time, the Kent County Sheriff's Office — tracking Hernandez-Mendez's approximate location via his cell phone — believed he had driven to the downtown Coloma area after fleeing the scene of the crime.
While driving to a nearby RV dealership "on a hunch," Simpson spotted the green pickup truck in the parking lot of Revive Church.
He radioed for backup and, when it arrived, approached the suspect's car with his gun drawn.
"It could have been a tense situation. You couldn't really see into the vehicle that well. You don't know if he's armed, if he's going to come out armed or anything," said Wes Smigielski, the Coloma Township police chief.
Simpson ordered Hernandez-Mendez to step out of the truck with his hands up, but the 42-year-old objected, claiming the lock on his driver's side door was broken.
Instead, he exited the vehicle by climbing through the driver's side window and was arrested without incident.
"There was no fight, no anything," Smigielski said. "No one got hurt, no officers got hurt, and it was kind of smooth."
"My guys are out there being vigilant. They take those [suspects] seriously," he said.
READ MORE: Shooting leaves 1 dead, 2 hurt in Alpine Township; suspect in custody
On Monday, Hernandez-Mendez was arraigned in Kent County for the murder of Norma Ramirez-Martinez, charged with murder, attempted murder and several other offenses.
Given the suspect's immigration status, ICE and the Kent County Sheriff's Office are currently handling the investigation.
FOX 17 has filed a Freedom of Information Act request with the Coloma Township Police Department to obtain relevant body-worn and dash camera footage from the morning of the arrest.
