On the morning of July 23, 2010, Corporal Matthew Lloyd Edwards, 31, a decorated Taylor Police Department officer, was killed while responding to a reported burglary at the Coppertree Town Home complex on Pine Street. Edwards and his partner encountered a man in the parking lot who matched the suspect description. As Edwards engaged him, the man drew a handgun and fired multiple times, fatally wounding the corporal. Edwards was taken to Oakwood Hospital in Dearborn and pronounced dead shortly after arrival. He was the first officer in Taylor Police Department history to be killed in the line of duty.

The shooter was identified as 36-year-old Tyress Mathews of Westland. Edwards had served nearly six years with the department, was survived by his wife and two children, and had been named Officer of the Year by the Police Officers Association of Michigan in 2008. If anyone has information about that morning or remembers seeing activity at Coppertree Town Homes around 6:00 a.m., please share what you know.