MEAWW.COM / NEWS / HUMAN INTEREST

‘I’ll be right back babe’: Grieving wife reveals HAUNTING last words of Temple University cop Christopher David Fitzgerald

Christopher David Fitzgerald, 31, who left behind four children, was killed while trying to apprehend a carjacking suspect

PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA: Marissa Fitzgerald remembered her husband Christopher David Fitzgerald, a Temple University cop who got killed in a shooting on February 18 while trying to apprehend a carjacking suspect, Miles Pfeffer, and said Christopher “really wanted to make a change for the city so that people could be safe and that the kids could be safe.” Christopher left behind four children — two girls and two boys, between the age of 7 and 13.

Mourning the loss of her husband, Marissa told NBC Philadelphia, "My husband was not a bad person, he was such a good man and a good cop.. awesome cop." "A very hard worker, he loved to do his job, but the best job he loved to do was being a father to [his] kids. My kids will always know who their dad is. Their dad is a hero and he is our greatest hero," the wife expressed and added, "They miss their dad so much. I am going to try to be as strong as I can be because I know that’s what he wanted. I’m going to make sure that they know who their dad was. They already know. He’s the greatest hero we could ever have." This is the first time a Temple University cop has been shot and killed in the line of duty.

READ MORE

Young off-duty NYPD officer shot in the head while helping brother buy car from Facebook Marketplace ad

Justin McIntire: Pennsylvania police chief dies after being shot in head by 28-yr-old thug during chase

Christopher David Fitzgerald's last words to his wife

Marissa told the outlet that Christopher was going to take his family out for breakfast on Sunday morning. February 19. And that she even baked some chocolate chip waffles. “It was the best day of my life,” the wife recollected and told before leaving for work, Christopher rubbed his face on her face. “He gave me a kiss and he told me that he loved me. And, I said ‘I love you too.’ And when he walked out the door, he said he’d be right back. He said, ‘I’ll be right back babe',” she sobbed.

Talking about her husband's 18-year-old suspected killer, she said, “He took a family man, he took a father, he took a son, he took a brother, he took a nephew, you took so much. Our lives will never be the same. You had no right, you are a coward, you are evil, I know what you did to my husband, you shouldn’t even be allowed to breathe because my husband is not breathing, but you get to have air flowing through your lungs. I hope that he’s haunted for the rest of his life, I hope he rots in a cell. I’m a Godly woman, my husband was a Godly man, right now I have a lot of praying to do because I can’t forgive him right now.” Miles Pfeffer is charged with murder and is being held in Philadelphia's Curran-Fromhold Correctional Facility without bail, reports 6 ABC.

Who was Christopher David Fitzgerald?

He was the son of former Fort Worth Police Chief Joel Fitzgerald who was with the department from October 2015 to May 2019. On February 18, at 7.12 pm, Christopher responded to reports of a robbery near 17th Street and West Montgomery Avenue when he first encountered the suspect, states 6 ABC. According to NBC Philadelphia, police found video footage that showed the 31-year-old cop running behind the suspect and telling him to get on the ground as they ran. Following this, the two then began to tussle behind an SUV, out of camera view. That's when the suspect shot Christopher. He was taken to the hospital where he was pronounced dead at 7.27 pm.

The Temple University Police Association posted several photos paying tribute to the officer, saying the community was "forever indebted" to their "forever hero." A GoFundMe has also been created by the association to help the family to gather donations.