PHILADELPHIA – A Temple University police officer was shot and killed while trying to stop a carjacking Saturday night in North Philadelphia. Now law enforcement authorities have confirmed that an arrest has been made in the homicide.
The fallen officer was identified as Chris Fitzgerald, according to the U.S. Marshals Service. A suspect in the case, Miles Pfeffer, 18, was taken into custody at 7:12 a.m. Sunday in the 2300 block of Quarry Road in Buckingham Twp., Bucks County, WPVI-TV in Philadelphia reported.
Police took the 18 year old suspect into custody this morning at a home on Quarry Road in Buckingham Township. Sources say the person in custody is 18 year old Miles Pfeffer pic.twitter.com/NvtTunualr
— Beccah Hendrickson (@Beccah6abc) February 19, 2023
Fitzgerald’s handcuffs were used when officers arrested Pfeffer.
“It’s a tradition that we do any time there’s a fallen officer, and we thought it was important to remember Ofc. Fitzgerald… by placing his cuffs on the suspect,” said Supervisor Deputy U.S Marshal Rob Clark.
Officer Chris Fitzgerald was a dad, an avid runner, and as described by a fellow officer “everything you would want in a police officer.” He was patrolling alone and was shot and killed trying to stop a carjacking. pic.twitter.com/NJepxfhwsh
— Beccah Hendrickson (@Beccah6abc) February 19, 2023
Fitzgerald was working his patrol assignment about 7 p.m. Saturday near 18th Street and Montgomery Avenue when the fatal shooting occurred.
Witnesses said they saw a fellow student get out of a black sedan when a male approached him and demanded the keys to his car.
A nearby security camera captured audio of the crime.
“Give me the keys, give me the keys. I’ll kill you, swear to God,” the suspect is heard saying.
Fitzgerald suffered a gunshot wound to the head as he tried to intervene. Although he was rushed to Temple University Hospital, he did not survive, police said.
Authorities later located the victim’s vehicle and subsequently captured the suspect, although further details were not immediately available.
There was a procession of police vehicles when the suspect was delivered to Philadelphia Police Headquarters Sunday morning, WPVI-TV reported.
According to the news outlet, the suspect is from a prominent and wealthy family.
The suspect was just brought in to police headquarters. He was picked up this morning in Buckingham Township. Police used the handcuffs of the fallen officer in the arrest. I’m told the suspect is a teenager from a prominent and wealthy family @6abc pic.twitter.com/Aj93FBJ5iU
— Beccah Hendrickson (@Beccah6abc) February 19, 2023
This is the first line-of-duty homicide involving a Temple University police officer, according to WPVI-TV.
“There are simply no words that can make sense of such a tragedy. It tears at our sense of community, and wounds us to our very soul. Temple has lost an officer and hero to senseless violence. Our thoughts are with the victim’s family, friends and the entire Temple community during this tremendously difficult time,” a statement from Temple University said.
Philadelphia Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw said, “(The Philadelphia Police Department) is doing everything that we can to make sure that not only is this person responsible taken into custody and brought to justice, but for every other suspect out there that is doing the same and wishing harm amongst our law enforcement community and our Philadelphia community.”
The suspect was exceptionally ruthless based upon his actions after shooting Fitzgerald, according to District Attorney Larry Krasner, the New York Post reported.
“Pfeffer is also alleged to have attempted to rob Officer Fitzgerald of his gun and to have gone through his pockets, while the officer was laying on the ground and fatally wounded,” Krasner said Sunday. “Pfeffer is further alleged to have committed a carjacking a short time after, close to the location of the officer’s murder.”
The fallen officer was heard over the police radio saying he was chasing down suspects, but by the time other Temple officers responded to the scene, they found Fitzgerald with multiple gunshot wounds to his face and upper body, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported.
Fitzgerald had been with the Temple University Police Department since October 2021. He was a married father of four, the school said.
“Officer Fitzgerald gave his life to selflessly serve and defend this community,” Jennifer Griffin, the university’s vice president for public safety, said in a statement.
“This loss leaves an enormous hole in all of our hearts. He was a father, a husband, a son, a colleague, and a friend.”
Officer Chris Fitzgerald joined the university police department in 2021. (Twitter/@officialTUPA)
University President Jason Wingard called the shooting “a gut-wrenching reminder of our police officers’ daily bravery and sacrifices to protect our students, faculty, staff and community” against “an unprecedented epidemic of violence.”
