A Philadelphia police officer who was shot in the neck more than two months ago during a traffic stop in Kensington died of his injuries Tuesday night.
Officer Jaime Roman, 31, never regained consciousness following the June 22 shooting, and he was pronounced dead just after 8:30 p.m. Tuesday inside Temple University’s intensive care unit, officials said.
He leaves behind a wife, 7-year-old daughter and 4-year-old son, among other loved ones, Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel told reporters at a news conference Wednesday. Funeral arrangements are pending, according to the PPD.
Bethel said he was in the room when Roman took his last breath.
“I didn’t know him before I was at the hospital, but they told me he was a fighter,” the commissioner said. “He fought, and he fought hard.”
Police Captain Steven Wheeler, commander of the 25th district, where Roman served for most of his nearly seven-year PPD career, described him as “a young, vibrant officer” who “could light up a room.”
“One thing I will share with you, in learning this from his father, he always wanted to be a cop,” Bethel added.
Roman and his partner, Officer Azieme Lindsey, pulled over a car just after 7 p.m. June 22 on the 3600 block of F Street. They decided to call a Philadelphia Parking Authority tow truck because the vehicle lacked registration and insurance and the driver was unlicensed.
Nearly 30 minutes elapsed, and the alleged shooter, Ramon Rodriguez-Vazquez, 36, was seen talking with the officers.
“We do that on a regular basis across the city,” Bethel said. “This individual could have walked away at any time during that process and did no harm to anyone.”
Instead, Rodriguez-Vazquez allegedly made a run for it when the officers, as they were clearing personal items from the car, came across an empty firearm holster. Roman and Lindsey gave chase, and Rodriguez-Vazquez turned and fired three shots, according to authorities.
In the minutes after the shooting, he desperately tried to flee the area, eventually holding a resident at gunpoint inside his home and making plans to leave the city, prosecutors said at the time. SWAT officers arrested him at the property following a brief standoff.
Police leaders anticipate that Rodriguez-Vazquez will now be charged with murdering a law enforcement officer. He was already being held on $12.5 billion bail for two counts of attempted murder. The public defender’s association, which is representing him, declined to comment on the developments.
Mayor Cherelle Parker opened her remarks Wednesday at PPD headquarters with a moment of silence. Roman is the first officer to die from injuries sustained in the line of duty since her term began in January.
“I don’t know how to act,” she said. “There’s no playbook on what the mayor is supposed to do at a time like this.”
