Philadelphia police officer sketches portrait of Temple officer killed protecting community
PHILADELPHIA - Family, friends and the Temple community have come together to remember slain Officer Chris Fitzgerald with memorials, photos and loving words. And now a Philadelphia police officer is offering his own tribute.
Jonny Castro is typically found sketching images of suspects. However, he also uses his talents to honor his fallen friends in law enforcement.
The Philadelphia officer most recently created a sketch of Fitzgerald, a Temple officer shot and killed in the line of duty after a struggle with an armed suspect.
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Dressed in full Temple University Police uniform, the image depicts a smiling Officer Fitzgerald with a caption honoring the 31-year-old officer who "leaves behind a loving wife and four children."
FOX 29 spoke to Castro back in 2017, when he said the portraits give him a glimmer of light amid an alarming number of line-of-duty deaths.
"It's something the family has to remember them by. Not just husbands and wives but maybe brothers and sisters, sons, daughters. They can each have a copy and hang it in their own place," he said.
Castro posted on Instagram that he will be hand-delivering prints of Fitzgerald's sketch to his family and Temple Police Department.