A heartbroken Philadelphia bids farewell to fallen Temple Police Officer Christopher Fitzgerald

The sun was just beginning to rise on Friday morning when a motorcade of police rolled through North Philadelphia, escorting the flag-draped coffin of slain Temple University Police Officer Christopher Fitzgerald.

The line of motorcycles and police cruisers drove down Broad Street, before turning into the Temple campus that Fitzgerald had committed to serving just two years ago, and that he died trying to protect.

This was his final patrol.

The procession snaked through campus twice, before it returned south and arrived at the Cathedral Basilica of SS. Peter and Paul. There, the hearse that carried Fitzgerald’s coffin was welcomed by hundreds of police from across the country — from the suburbs of Philadelphia and New Jersey, to cities in Texas, Florida, and Colorado — who gathered to honor their fallen brother.

Inside the basilica, every pew was filled with family and friends, city and state leaders, and fellow officers, heartbroken by another senseless act of gun violence.

Fitzgerald, a 31-year-old husband and father of four, was shot and killed on Saturday after he stopped three young men in North Philadelphia following reports of carjackings and robberies in the area. He pursued a fleeing suspect — later identified by police as 18-year-old Miles Pfeffer — and after a brief struggle, police say Pfeffer pulled out a pistol and shot Fitzgerald multiple times in the chest and face.

Officers of the nearby 22nd Police District raced to the scene, near 17th Street and West Montgomery Avenue, and found Fitzgerald on the ground. He was rushed to the hospital, but died shortly after.

Pfeffer was arrested by morning.

Fitzgerald is the first Temple police officer to be killed in the line of duty, and only the second Philadelphia law enforcement officer killed since 2015.

His death comes amid unrelenting gun violence that has shaken the city to its core over the last three years. The toll has spared few: children walking home from school, young fathers carrying in groceries, tourists heading to the airport.

And now, a police officer, killed while working to protect a community and campus.

At his funeral Mass on Friday, Fitzgerald was hailed as a hero and received a send-off fit for one. He was posthumously promoted to sergeant by Temple police and the Philadelphia Sheriff’s Office, where he worked for two years before joining the university force in 2021.

At the front of the cathedral, his casket was surrounded by red and white flowers. His body was dressed in full uniform down to the white gloves, his police cap resting on his lap. At his feet was an “Officer of the Year” plaque from Temple, and a framed letter from Congress.

As mourners filled the ornate basilica, Fitzgerald’s family gathered around his casket to say their final goodbyes. First were his children, his youngest daughter barely tall enough to see inside. Then his siblings, his wife, Marissa, and his parents, Pauline and Joel.

They stroked his face and kissed his forehead. They shared final whispers and prayers. Then the casket was slowly closed, to echoes of sobs.

Throughout the ceremony, speaker after speaker celebrated Fitzgerald’s life and legacy: his infectious laugh and smile, his love of Philadelphia sports and new music, his hardworking spirit and devotion to his work and family.

“Chris was the very best of us,” Gov. Josh Shapiro told the crowd. “A strong, tough cop, with a good heart.”

Law enforcement was in Fitzgerald’s blood — his mother and father worked as Philadelphia police officers, and his father is now the chief of transit police in Denver — and he was always proud to put on his uniform, family said.

Off duty, Fitzgerald was an avid runner, said his uncle Bishop Juan Marrero, and he often blended his sport with passion for antiviolence work. He ran with groups of Black and brown men through Philly neighborhoods most impacted by gun crime, and he was often the one at the front holding the banner that said, “Stop the Violence.”

And yet the violence he fought against so hard claimed his life.

That was not lost on those who gathered to remember and honor him at the funeral Mass. Speakers, including his younger brother, Joel, issued a call to action for local and state leaders to do what is necessary to get illegal guns off the streets, and a plea to Philadelphians to come together and choose love.

“We have to be good, we have to be running towards something,” Marrero said, to a standing ovation.

“We cannot let the loss of his life, or the many others before him due to senseless gun violence, be in vain,” said State Rep. Amen Brown, Fitzgerald’s cousin.

As the nearly two-hour service wound to a close, the lawn and pavement outside the basilica was filled with hundreds who gathered in Fitzgerald’s memory. His family held one another as his casket, draped in the American flag, was slowly carried down the steps, while solemn strains of bagpipe music filled the air.

Fitzgerald’s brothers and sisters in law enforcement stood silently in final salute.