PHILADELPHIA – In late November, Miles Pfeffer posted a warning on his Instagram page.
“Work smart, not hard, make stupid decisions, face stupid consequences,” Pfeffer wrote, beneath a photo of a man, his face masked through unfurled $20 bills, with what appeared to be a Ruger pistol tucked into his belt.
According to Philadelphia police, Pfeffer followed his own advice.
Early Sunday morning, federal and local police responded to the home of Miles Pfeffer’s mother in Buckingham Township, Bucks County, Pennsylvania, and charged the 18-year-old with the killing of Temple University police officer Christopher Fitzgerald the night before.
A police affidavit states that Pfeffer shot the 31-year-old officer near 17th Street and Avenue shortly after 7:12 p. m. He tried to steal his gun and searched his pockets. What happened was captured on video.
Read more: Slain Temple University police officer ‘cared about more than himself’
According to the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office, Fitzgerald had sued Pfeffer while investigating an imaginable crime near the Temple campus. It is not known what led to this first meeting. Shortly after Pfeffer shot Fitzgerald, according to police, he stole a man’s Infiniti. Q60 at gunpoint.
“Give me the keys or I’ll kill you,” Pfeffer said, reportedly based on the police probable cause affidavit, in nearby surveillance audio and video recordings.
Two law enforcement resources familiar with the investigation said Pfeffer then picked up his mother on Ridge Avenue and took him back to Bucks County. of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the case.
Pfeffer faces charges of murder, murder of a law enforcement officer, robbery and carjacking. You are not eligible for bail. The suspect was arrested in Fitzgerald handcuffs, a police culture for deceased officers.
Fitzgerald, a father of 4 and avid runner known to friends as “Fitz,” was pronounced dead at 7:27 p. m. He was the first Temple University police officer to die in the line of duty.
“Officer Fitzgerald gave his life to selflessly serve and protect this network,” Jennifer Griffin, Temple’s vice president of public safety, wrote Sunday in an email to the university network. Keep our network secure. This loss leaves a great void in the hearts of all of us.
On Sunday afternoon, Fitzgerald’s relatives gathered around a makeshift memorial site on Bouvier Street and Avenue. At the end of the block where Fitzgerald was killed less than 24 hours earlier, his cousin Juan Marrero Jr. reflected on the life of the man he considered an older brother.
“He wore this badge like he was a superhero, he protected everyone here,” said Marrero, 23. “That’s what he liked to do. So he died doing what he enjoyed doing.
Marrero said Fitzgerald’s parents worked in law enforcement. Christopher’s father, Joel Fitzgerald, spent 17 years at the Philadelphia Police Department before taking up other high-level positions, adding Allentown, where Christopher had worked as a criminal officer at the age of 19. After a professional spell in Texas, young Fitzgerald returned to the city where he was born and raised.
“He came back here to the city, Philadelphia. That’s all he’s interested in,” Marrero said. “Law enforcement in their blood. “
Temple’s network was shocked Sunday, and officials said they had grief counselors and worker assistance resources ready for categories to resume Monday. They anticipate a great need.
At the memorial near where Fitzgerald was shot, other people posted photos, candles and flowers around Sunday. A Temple University dispatcher put his arm around a Philadelphia police officer to please her. A handwritten note under two roses read: “Thank you for your service, selflessness and courage. Rest in peace. . . . He will be remembered. A true hero.
District Attorney Larry Krasner said, “Officer Fitzgerald had his loved ones taken in a violent and senseless manner. As the district attorney’s murder unit begins holding Miles Pfeffer accountable for his alleged crimes, our Victim Services team will also bring love to Officer Fitzgerald’s circle of family and friends.
Krasner praised Temple University police, sheriffs, Philadelphia police and Bucks County law enforcement officials for temporarily detaining Pfeffer.
“Once again, I call on state and federal legislators to apply the same urgency to combat the obscene source and availability of firearms in our communities, which rob others of their lives, futures and freedoms in tactics that no other peacetime rich country tolerates. . Krasner said. Students, staff and public protection officials from Pennsylvania to Michigan and California deserve to live freely, without the danger and trauma that daily gun violence imposes on each and every American. “
Marrero, Fitzgerald’s cousin, struggled Sunday to explain why the tragedy had occurred.
Joining Marrero, Shajia Johnson, 25, another cousin of Fitzgerald’s, said she was heartened by seeing the outpouring of grief and by Fitzgerald’s family.
“It represents the effect it’s had,” said Johnson, who also worked at Temple. “All our colleagues enjoyed it. No one had anything wrong with Christopher. They enjoyed it and it shows. “
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(Philadelphia editors Jesse Bunch, Susan Snyder, Vinny Vella and Jake Blumgart, and photographer David Maialetti contributed to this report. )
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