Family of Slain Temple Police Sergeant Sues Suspected Killer and Family

Family members of a slain Temple University police sergeant are suing the teen accused of killing him as well as the suspect’s family.

Miles Pfeffer, 18, is charged with murder, murder of a law enforcement officer, robbery, carjacking, possession of an instrument of crime and related offenses in connection to the deadly shooting of Temple University Police Sergeant Christopher Fitzgerald earlier this year. 

On Thursday, more than three months after the shooting, Fitzgerald’s family filed a lawsuit against Pfeffer, his mother Jill Petruska, Pfeffer’s father Mark Pfeffer and Petruska’s boyfriend George Shaw, accusing them of being liable for negligence and wrongful death. 

“These individuals all had detailed knowledge of Miles Pfeffer’s mental instability, propensity for violence and strong interest in possessing and using firearms,” the lawsuit states. “Defendant Miles Pfeffer showed signs, again and again, that he presented a high risk of harm to himself and those around him.”

On the evening of February 18, Sergeant Fitzgerald was patrolling an area in North Philadelphia near Temple’s campus when he spotted Pfeffer, his brother and their friend who police said were acting suspiciously. As Sergeant Fitzgerald approached the group, the three young men fled on foot, going in different directions, according to police. Fitzgerald chased after Pfeffer near North 17th Street and West Montgomery Avenue. 

Investigators said Fitzgerald told Pfeffer to get on the ground multiple times before the teen pulled out a gun and opened fire. 

Sergeant Fitzgerald was shot at least once and fell to the ground, police said. Pfeffer then allegedly stood over Sergeant Fitzgerald and shot him several times in the head and face, killing him. Police said Pfeffer then searched through Sergeant Fitzgerald’s pockets and tried to steal his service weapon but couldn’t get the gun out of the holster. 

Pfeffer then fled the scene and carjacked a man along the 1800 block of North 18th Street, investigators said. 

Investigators said Pfeffer’s mother Jill Petruska later picked her son up near 29th Street and Ridge Avenue shortly after the shooting. Philadelphia records show that Pfeffer's father owns property in that area. The empty stolen vehicle was also later recovered in that same area, according to police. 

Petruska then drove her son back to their home in Buckingham Township, Bucks County, investigators said. On February 19, police descended on the home and used Sergeant Fitzgerald’s handcuffs to arrest Pfeffer, according to investigators. 

“Defendant Jill Petruska and Defendant George Shaw housed, clothed and fed Defendant Miles Pfeffer at their luxury home in Buckingham Township,” the lawsuit said. “It was here that Defendant Miles Pfeffer had a safe haven and ready access to multiple firearms. Indeed, his mother picked him up and drove him back to the Buckingham property after her son had finished slaughtering Christopher Fitzgerald.”

The lawsuit also accuses Pfeffer’s mother, her boyfriend and Pfeffer’s father of ignoring multiple warning signs from the teen prior to the deadly shooting, including mental health issues as well as a bomb scare at his high school. 

“Despite the repeated signs, including multiple juvenile offenses, multiple school infractions, a bomb scare, and threats to bring weapons to school, Defendants Petruska, Shaw, and Mark Pfeffer failed to take the necessary steps to avoid catastrophe,” the lawsuit says. 

The lawsuit also alleges there were numerous weapons at the family home in Buckingham Township as well as Mark Pfeffer’s home in Philadelphia.

“At all relevant times, Defendants Petruska, Shaw, and Mark Pfeffer knew that Defendant Miles Pfeffer had access to the firearms and ammunition in question and took insufficient steps to ensure that those instrumentalities did not come into the possession of the mentally ill and highly troubled Defendant Miles Pfeffer,” the lawsuit says.

The lawsuit demands a sum in excess of $50,000 “for compensatory damages, punitive damages, and such other relief as this Court may deem just and proper.”

During Fitzgerald’s funeral service in February, he was posthumously promoted from officer to the rank of sergeant.