By Winter Keefer
MLive.com, Walker, Mich.
FLINT, Mich. — A Flint neighborhood safety officer has died of COVID-19, according to officials.
Officer Paul Forster is the first person employed by the city of Flint known to have died from coronavirus and one of three individuals known to have been positively diagnosed, the city said in a Friday, April 17 news release. Both Forster and the other two individuals diagnosed were quarantined more than 14 days ago.
“We have lost another hero to this deadly disease,” Mayor Sheldon Neeley said in a news release.
Mayor Neeley has ordered flags in the city lowered to half-staff in recognition of “the city’s lost heroes,” the release states.
https://twitter.com/FlintPoliceDept/status/1251167058127196160
“Paul helped to serve this city at the ground level, fighting blight and making our community a better place. We will miss him dearly,” Neeley said. “I ask this community to join me in keeping his wife and children in our prayers.”
It was with “heavy hearts,” the Flint Police Department learned about the death of Forster, the department wrote in a Friday, April 17, Facebook post. Forster was with the Flint Police Department for three years.
“He always had a smile to offer and was willing to help in any way he could,” the post reads.
The department offered sympathies, thoughts and prayers to Forster’s wife, a longtime Police Reserve Lieutenant, and their children, family and friends.
Forster’s family gave permission for news of his death to be shared publicly, according to the city.
©2020 MLive.com, Walker, Mich.