Michael Krol, 40, was a caring person and had always wanted to help others, his mother said Friday.
"He knew the danger of the job but he never shied away from his duty as a police officer. He was a great caring person and wanted to help people. A wonderful son, brother, uncle, nephew and friend," said Susan Ehlke, from Redford, Michigan, in a prepared statement.
Krol's family said in a statement that he moved to Dallas to become a police officer in 2007 because Detroit wasn't hiring. He was a deputy at the Wayne County jail before the move.
Meanwhile, family members told the Detroit Free Press that Krol was single with no children, but had a girlfriend in Dallas. He graduated from the Dallas Police Academy in 2008.
"He was a guy that was serving others," said Brian Schoenbaechler, Krol's brother-in-law. "And he gave his life in service of others."