A man was arrested in Buckingham Township this morning in connection with the shooting death of a Temple University Police Officer near the Temple University campus in Philadelphia.
The suspect was taken into custody at his home in the 2300 block of Quarry Road at 7:12 a.m. by members of the Central Bucks Special Response Team, the Buckingham Township Police Department, the U.S. Marshals Service, the Philadelphia Police Department and Pennsylvania State Police.
Police used the fallen officer’s handcuffs in placing the suspect under arrest.
Officials say Officer Christopher Fitzgerald was trying to stop an attempted carjacking when he was fatally shot in the head by the suspect, 18-year-old Miles Pfeffer.
“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,” DA Larry Krasner said.
Remembering and honoring our forever hero, Police Officer Christopher Fitzgerald.
Officer Fitzgerald gave his life protecting the temple community and we are forever indebted to him. He valiantly served the temple community and the people of Philadelphia
EOW: 02/18/23 pic.twitter.com/5oRoxwxZPF
— Temple University Police Association (@officialTUPA) February 19, 2023
“We join law enforcement and people across the region in expressing our heartbreak and outrage over this horrific crime. Officer Fitzgerald’s life was ripped from him and his loved ones violently and senselessly. As the DA’s Homicide Unit begins the work of holding Miles Pfeffer accountable for his alleged crimes, our Victims Services team will also be extending loving support to Officer Fitzgerald’s family and loved ones,” Krasner said in a statement. “Temple University Police, the U.S. Marshals, the PPD and their colleagues in Bucks County are all to be commended for bringing this defendant into custody so quickly. Once again, I call on state and federal lawmakers to apply that same urgency toward addressing the obscene supply and availability of firearms in our communities, which robs people of their lives, futures, and freedoms in a way that no other wealthy peacetime nation tolerates. Students, staff, and public safety officers from Pennsylvania to Michigan to California deserve to live freely – absent the danger and trauma that daily gun violence imposes on every American.”
Bucks County authorities are working with state, Philadelphia, and federal authorities in this ongoing investigation.
News by Breaking911
