A Tribute to the Fallen Heroes of April 4, 2009

 (My tribute to these fallen heroes, written on April 4, 2009)

If you believe that good exists, then you have to believe evil exists. On April 4, 2009, evil reared its ugly head in the form of a 22-year-old man, Richard Poplawski, when he killed three police officers and wounded two others. These were the first city of Pittsburgh police officers killed in 18 years. The day began early when the police officers said goodbye to their families. No one ever expected that they would not be coming home. A domestic call came in from the mother of Poplawski resulting from an argument between the two. She wanted the officers to remove her son from the home.

The shootout occurred in the Stanton Heights Neighborhood of Pittsburgh at 7:11 a.m., where Poplawski was wearing a bulletproof vest in the home, lying in wait for the officers. He shot Officer Paul Sciullo, 37, in the head, and then Officer Stephen Mayhle, 29, in the head. Officer Eric Kelly, 41, was on his way home from his night shift when he heard the call for help on his radio. He arrived at the scene to help both officers, and Officer Kelly was shot and killed. Two other police officers were injured at the scene. Poplawski was armed with a semi-automatic AK-47 style rifle and two other guns. While Poplawski silenced and destroyed the lives of those three policemen, he is alive, he is in jail, and as of yet, he hasn't been tried.

Yet, the three police officers are dead. Two leave wives and a total of five children. The other officer leaves a fiancee. All three policemen leave parents, siblings, and friends. Life will never be he same for the families. Kelly and Mayhle will never see their children grow up. They will miss out on all the important days of their lives. They will never see their grandchildren or grow old with their spouses. Sciullo will never get married; he will never have children or grandchildren. Poplawski stole those dreams away from the three officers when he killed them. In an outpouring from the city and suburbs of Pittsburgh an other areas and states a fund was set up for the three families and the total keeps growing. The city and suburbs stood as one.

Maybe the people of Pittsburgh will become gentler from this tragedy? I don't know?
Everyday men and women put on their uniforms and answer calls for help. The most dangerous calls are the domestic violence calls. One never knows what waits on the other side of the door. Usually the officer tries to help and sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. When the domestic incident is over, sometimes the officer finds himself or herself in danger or on the defensive, injured or maybe dead.

We expect more from the police, from the ones who wear the blue uniforms and the badges and the guns. But there are good and bad police men and women, just like there are good and bad doctors, good and bad lawyers, good and bad teachers, good and bad people in general.

I have a soft spot for the police. My son is one and I am proud of him. I worry about him and pray for him, as does his wife. I try not to think about the dangers that he faces. But I know on April 4, 2009, he was at Stanton Heights, Police Zone 5. He also volunteered to take duty for the officers from Zone 5, so that they could attend Officer Mayhle's burial.

For whatever it is worth, I have kept Officers Kelly, Mayhle, Sciullo and their families in my prayers along with my son and all those who don the blue uniforms.

A Sad Day For Pittsburgh

It is a sad day for Pittsburghers. The Poplawski trial is over except for a sentence of death or life in prison. The jurors will decide that fate. Did it bring closure? I doubt very much that it brought closure to the families of the three police officers that Poplawski killed. The families would probably love nothing more then to see their loved ones walk through their front door this very moment. This is never going to happen.

As for the man who killed the officers…what did he accomplish? If he wanted to die, why didn’t he just kill himself instead of taking the lives of three good men? Funny, isn’t that what killers do…they kill others and revel in what they have done. They alter the course of others and themselves. For what? A footnote in a book?

I feel sorry for the families of those three police officers that were killed. It was a long week and I for one couldn’t read the newspaper accounts of what happened two years ago. I still remember it vividly without having to read the newspaper accounts.

As for the mother of Poplawksi…I no doubt believe that she loves her son and didn’t want this for him, the police officers that he killed or for the City of Pittsburgh. Wouldn’t it have been better if she had bothered to let anyone know about her son and the arsenal of weapons that he stockpiled in his house?

My continuous prayers go out to the families of Officers Eric Kelly, Stephen Mayhle, and Paul Sciullo. They will never be forgotten. Their lives ended on April, 4, 2009. The lives of their families changed on April 4, 2009, no matter what happens to the man, who killed them.

So maybe we should just say a prayer tonight for the three who died and their families and for the men and women who wear those blue uniforms everyday, and put their lives on the line for us.

Fallen Heroes Memorial

Outside St. Joseph's Roman Catholic Church, Bloomfield, there is now a statue of St. Michael the Archangel, patron saint of police officers. The statue was dedicated on April 4, 2011. It was dedicated to the Pittsburgh's three "fallen heroes": Officer Eric Kelly, Officer Stephen Mayhle, and Officer Paul Sciullo. They were the three city of Pittsburgh police officers that were killed on April 4, 2009.

The Fallen Heroes Memorial depicts a strong but sorrowful statue of St. Michael on top of a three tier pedestal with the photographs of the three police officers embedded in the stone. Next to the statute is a huge police shield bearing the date of the officers' death, 4/4/09. The spot was chosen because it is prominent on the main traffic corridor through that part of the city. Despite the statue and tiny memorial garden being in front of the Church, they are a separate non-profit corporation, and not part of the Church. Both the City of Pittsburgh and the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh donated the land.

Sciullo was a member of St. Joseph's Church. The people who live in the area will never forget him. All three officers will never be forgotten, and neither will the day of their deaths, April 4, 2009.

An important lesson in all of this was how hard the people worked to make this monument a reality. Donations for the memorial are still needed. If anyone is interested in contributing, contact Bloomfield Development Corp., 366 Gross Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15224 or (www.bloomfieldnow.com).