PLYMOUTH – One year after his death, family, friends, state officials and police officers from throughout Montgomery County and Pennsylvania came to the Schuylkill River Trail to view a memorial made to honor the ultimate sacrifice made by Plymouth Police Officer Brad Fox.
‘Exactly one year ago today, an unimaginable tragedy occurred,’ Montgomery County District Attorney Risa Ferman said. ‘It has been a year of awful firsts, and today we arrive at another awful first; the first anniversary of officer Fox’s sacrifice.’
Because of Fox’s sacrifice, he was awarded the highest honor a police officer can receive in Montgomery County – the District Attorney’s Medal of Honor.
‘I have never given (the award) before and I must tell you I hope to never give it again. I hope you will display it proudly,’ Ferman said.
Ferman recalled Fox’s past and how he came to public service.
‘Brad Fox was born on Sept. 14, 1977. He graduated from William Tenet High School,’ she said.
Ferman told the story of a boy, who growing up, had time for hockey and humor.
‘Because it was all about hockey and humor, his first interaction with police was not at cop camp. It was during a scavenger hunt where he and his friends would sneak behind the counter of the bowling alley and take the girls’ shoes and leave notes all over town where to find them.’
Ferman said they put the shoes everywhere all over town and the police showed up when the group put the shoes on top of the flag pole at the school.
‘I imagine the police officer who showed up smiling and laughing when Brad wasn’t looking,’ Ferman said.
Ferman explained that Fox didn’t just want to make people laugh, but also wanted to serve and protect.
Fox, a New Hanover resident, became a staff sergeant in the United States Marine Corps and served in two tours of duty in Iraq, before returning and becoming a police officer in Plymouth for seven years.
Plymouth Police Chief Joe Lawrence spoke to the crowd about Fox’s day.
’44-178; your status?’ Lawrence repeated twice. ‘It wasn’t those words that changed us that day, but the silence that followed.’
‘He came in with his silly grin; he let his partner Nick run around the parking lot. He stopped at the police academy to say hi to the people who helped to train him to be a police officer.’
Fox was killed while pursuing Andrew Thomas, who fled on foot from a hit-and-run accident. As a result, Fox was shot and his K-9 partner, Nick, was shot and suffered non-life threatening injuries. Nick is now retired and lives with the Fox family.
Fox died the evening before his 35th birthday.
His assailant, Thomas, later turned the gun on himself. The man who illegally sold Thomas the gun, Michael Henry, was recently sentenced to 20 to 66 years in prison.
‘It wasn’t, to me, the way Brad did his job that day that made him a good cop or a hero,’ Lawrence said.
In the letter Lawrence described, Fox’s wife Lynsay asked if he could call out of work sick and he said, ‘I can’t, that would be letting my guys down.’
Lawrence said Fox’s ability to make everyone smile and his loyalty to his fellow officers is what made him a hero.
Montgomery County Commissioner Josh Shaprio told the crowd how he was sad to have not known Fox while he was alive.
‘It’s my loss that I never got to know Brad in life, but over the past year I’ve gotten so much insight on his life.’
Shapiro acknowledged that it was a sad day but hoped people would be able to see the memorial as a place of inspiration.
‘I hope to look at it as a place of hope and inspiration. A place where a family can stop for a weekend bike ride or walk and explain the courage that goes on each and every day where people defend this community,’ Shapiro said.
Fox’s death has been the cause for the Brad Fox Law, which gives a minimum mandatory sentence of five years in prison to those convicted of purchasing a gun for someone who is not legally allowed to own one.
The plaque dedicated to Fox is the 20th Fallen Hero Plaque in Montgomery County.
Information from the Times Herald, www.timesherald.com
