Police officer gunned down in Alabama is the 5th killed in the U.S. this year

MOBILE, Ala. (WREG/CNN) -- An Alabama police officer has died after being shot on Sunday, according to the Mobile Police Department.

Officer Sean Tuder, 30, was shot by a suspect with prior warrants while doing follow-up work on an investigation, Police Chief Lawrence Battiste told a press conference covered by CNN affiliate WKRG.

The suspect, Marco Perez, 19, was taken into custody, he said.

WKRG reported that District Attorney Ashley Rich has authorized capital murder charges against Perez.

Battiste told reporters that Tuder had been with the department less than five years.

The police chief also urged media to be patient as authorities investigated the shooting. “Right now we're just really trying to make sense of it and trying to hold each other up, and so please work with us,” he said.

Tuder is the fifth officer to be gunned down in the line of duty so far in 2019.

Seven other officers have been killed on the job, four in firearms-related deaths and three in traffic accidents, according to the National law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund.