PHILADELPHIA (AP) – A man is facing murder and other charges in the death of a Temple University police officer shot and killed near campus on Saturday night, authorities said.
The Philadelphia district attorney’s office said 18-year-old Miles Pfeffer will face charges of murder, murder of a law enforcement officer, robbery, carjacking and weapons crimes in the death of Officer Christopher Fitzgerald, who prosecutors said was shot in the head while responding to an incident near campus.
“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,” District Attorney Larry Krasner said in a statement on Sunday. “Pfeffer is further alleged to have committed a carjacking a short time after, close to the location of the officer’s murder.”
The Bucks County district attorney’s office said Pfeffer was taken into custody shortly after 7am on Sunday at his Buckingham Township home by township and Philadelphia police as well as state police and federal marshals. “Police used the fallen officer’s handcuffs in placing the suspect under arrest,” county prosecutors said.
There was no immediate word on whether Pfeffer had an attorney; a number listed for his home was no longer in service.
Temple University officials said Fitzgerald had been on the university police force since October 2021.
“Officer Fitzgerald gave his life to selflessly serve and defend this community,” the university’s vice president for public safety Jennifer Griffin, 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.”
University president Jason Wingard said he was “heartbroken” and called the shooting “a gut-wrenching reminder of our police officers’ daily bravery and sacrifices to protect our students, faculty, staff and community” as the city and the nation deal with “an unprecedented epidemic of violence”.
