President Joe Biden signed a bill renaming a Bustleton post office after fallen Temple Sergeant Christopher Fitzgerald, United States Rep. Brendan Boyle announced Tuesday morning.
The post office is in Northeast Philadelphia, located near Red Lion Road and Bustleton Avenue, about 13 miles from Temple’s Main Campus.
Fitzgerald was killed in the line of duty on Feb. 18, 2023, after responding to a call at 15th Street near Cecil B. Moore Avenue. He was shot at 17th Street near Montgomery, now renamed Christopher Fitzgerald Way.
“Naming this post office in Sergeant Fitzgerald’s honor will ensure that his legacy of service and sacrifice endures for generations to come, and serves as a lasting tribute to his profound impact on our community,” Boyle wrote in the press release.
Fitzgerald was 31, and a husband and father of four. He joined the Temple University Police Department in October 2021, and his father and mother both worked in law enforcement. Fitzgerald worked as a police officer in Texas and as a corrections officer in Lehigh County before he joined TUPD.
“The post office will serve as a small but important symbol of our eternal thanks,” Boyle said on the House floor in June to announce the bill. “When people walk down Christopher Fitzgerald Way or pass by the Post Office on Bustleton Avenue, they will be reminded of the ultimate sacrifice Sergeant Fitzgerald gave to the city of Philadelphia.”
The man accused of murdering Fitzgerald made headlines this week after he was stabbed multiple times in a correctional facility on Nov. 21. Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner announced earlier this year that his office would not seek capital punishment in Sgt. Fitzgerald’s murder case.
Fitzgerald was the first Temple police officer to be killed in the line of duty. Vice President of Public Safety Jennifer Griffin posthumously promoted him to sergeant in his memory.
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