PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A Philadelphia police officer has died of his wounds, nearly three months after being shot in the neck after stopping a vehicle while on duty, city officials said.
Officer Jaime Roman, 31, who spent 80 days in intensive care without regaining consciousness, died Tuesday night. Roman leaves behind a wife, a 7-year-old daughter and a 4-year-old son. He had been with the department for nearly seven years.
In a statement released Wednesday, the department said the driver was removing personal belongings from the vehicle in the city's Kensington neighborhood on June 22 when Roman noticed an empty holster on the floorboard.
The driver, Ramon Rodriguez Vazquez, 36, of Philadelphia, then ran away, and Roman and his partner chased after him, city police said. Rodriguez Vazquez “then turned and fired three shots,” hitting Roman, according to police.
Rodriguez Vazquez forced his way into a home, where police arrested him.
Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel said murder charges would be filed against Rodriguez Vazquez.
Rodriguez Vazquez was previously charged with attempted murder, assault, gun offenses and other counts. George Jackson, a spokesperson for the Defender Association of Philadelphia, which represents Rodriguez Vazquez, declined to comment Wednesday.
Fellow officers stood outside Temple University Hospital to honor Roman Tuesday night as a vehicle drove his body to the Philadelphia Medical Examiner’s Office.
At a news conference Wednesday, Mayor Cherelle Parker vowed to “not allow his death to be in vain” and ordered city flags to be flown at half staff.
Department leaders at the news conference remembered Roman as a vibrant person who could light up a room, and who had always wanted to be a police officer.
Law enforcement investigate the shooting of Philadelphia Police officer Jaime Ramos in Philadelphia on Saturday, June 22, 2024. (Elizabeth Robertson/The Philadelphia Inquirer via AP)
Law enforcement investigate the shooting of Philadelphia Police officer Jaime Ramos in Philadelphia on Saturday, June 22, 2024. (Elizabeth Robertson/The Philadelphia Inquirer via AP)
This undated photo provided by the Philadelphia Police Department shows Philadelphia Police Officer Jaime Roman. (Philadelphia Police Department via AP)
PLAINS, Ga. (AP) — Jimmy Carter 's long public goodbye began Saturday in south Georgia where the 39th U.S. president's life began more than 100 years ago.
A motorcade with Carter's flag-draped casket is heading to his hometown of Plains and past his boyhood home on the way to Atlanta. The procession began at the Phoebe Sumter Medical Center in Americus, where former Secret Service agents who protected the late president served as pallbearers. A mournful train whistle filled the clear air as the pallbearers turned to face the hearse for a final goodbye, their hands on their hearts.
The Carter family, including the former president's four children and many grandchildren and great-grandchildren, are accompanying their patriarch as his six-day state funeral begins.
The longest-lived U.S. president, Carter died at his home in Plains on Dec. 29 at the age of 100.
Families lined the procession route in downtown Plains, near the historic train depot where Carter headquartered his presidential campaign. Some carried bouquets of flowers or wore commemorative pins bearing Carter’s photo.
“We want to pay our respects,” said 12-year-old Will Porter Shelbrock, who was born more than three decades after Carter left the White House in 1981. “He was ahead of his time on what he tried to do and tried to accomplish.”
It was Shelbrock’s idea to make the trip to Plains from Gainesville, Fla., with his grandmother, Susan Cone, 66, so they could witness the start of Carter's final journey. Shelbrock said he admires Carter for his humanitarian work building houses and waging peace, and for installing solar panels on the White House.
Carter and his late wife Rosalynn, who died in November 2023, were born in Plains and lived most of their lives in and around the town, with the exceptions of Jimmy's Navy career and his terms as Georgia governor and president.
The procession will stop in front of Carter's home on his family farm just outside of Plains. The National Park Service will ring the old farm bell 39 times to honor his place as the 39th president. Carter's remains then will proceed to Atlanta for a moment of silence in front of the Georgia Capitol and a ceremony at the Carter Presidential Center.
There, he will lie in repose until Tuesday morning, when he will be transported to Washington to lie in state at the U.S. Capitol. His state funeral is Thursday at 10 a.m. at Washington National Cathedral, followed by a return to Plains for an invitation-only funeral at Maranatha Baptist Church.
He will be buried near his home, next to Rosalynn Carter.
Bill Barrow, based in Atlanta, has covered national politics including multiple presidential campaigns for the AP since 2012.
People wait for a funeral procession for former President Jimmy Carter to move through downtown Plains, Ga., Saturday, Jan. 4, 2025. (AP Photo/)
People line the road before the hearse with the casket of former President Jimmy Carter departs Phoebe Sumter Medical Center in Americus, Ga., Saturday, Jan. 4, 2025. Carter died Dec. 29 at the age of 100. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, Pool)
Former and current U.S. Secret Service agents assigned to the Carter detail, move the flag-draped casket of former President Jimmy Carter, at Phoebe Sumter Medical Center in Americus, Ga., Saturday, Jan. 4, 2025. Carter died Dec. 29 at the age of 100. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, Pool)
FILE - Former President Jimmy Carter welcomes visitors to Maranatha Baptist Church before teaching Sunday school in Plains, Ga., June 8, 2014. (AP Photo/John Bazemore, File)
FILE - People wait in line outside Maranatha Baptist Church in Plains, Ga., to get into a Sunday school class taught by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter on Aug. 23, 2015. It was Carter's first lesson since announcing plans for intravenous drug doses and radiation to treat melanoma found in his brain after surgery to remove a tumor from his liver. (AP Photo/David Goldman, File)
People line the street in Plains, Ga., before the hearse carrying the casket of former President Jimmy Carter passes through the town Saturday, Jan. 4, 2025. Carter died Dec. 29 at the age of 100. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, Pool)
FILE - Former President Jimmy Carter teaches Sunday school class at Maranatha Baptist Church in his hometown, Aug. 23, 2015, in Plains, Ga. The 90-year-old Carter gave one lesson to about 300 people filling the small Baptist church that he and his wife, Rosalynn, attend. It was Carter's first lesson since detailing the intravenous drug doses and radiation treatment planned to treat melanoma found in his brain after surgery to remove a tumor from his liver. (AP Photo/David Goldman, File)
