Slain Philadelphia Police Sergeant Robert Wilson III was honored and remembered Saturday by Mural Arts Philadelphia with a Mural Dedication.
The two hour ceremony for Wilson took place at 12 p.m. at 6033 Baltimore Avenue in Philadelphia. The mural was designed by David McShane and the event funded by the City of Philadelphia as well as the Philadelphia Fraternal Order of Police.
Wilson, an eight-year veteran of the 22nd District, was shot down by robbers during a shooting in North Philadelphia in March of 2015.
The sergeant was at a GameStop on Lehigh Avenue and 22nd Street buying his son a birthday gift when two men entered and announced a robbery. When Wilson tried to stop them, the two men pulled out guns and opened fire, according to investigators. Wilson was shot several times as he protected customers and employees. He later died from his injuries.
Both suspects, identified by police as Carlton Hipps and his brother Ramone Williams, were arrested and charged with murder. Last month, more than two years after Wilson's death, Judge Kathryn Streeter Lewis ruled that prosecutors could seek capital punishment against the two.
In 2016, Wilson was posthumously awarded the National Medal of Valor by President Barack Obama.
"The men and women behind these badges are people just like everybody else," Philadelphia Police Commissioner Richard Ross said during Saturday's ceremony. "Just like you and me. Just like your mother, your father, your grandmother. They want the same things out of life. But they actually do something additional. They put their lives on the line each and every day for people they've never met."
