Salvation Army major murdered in front of his children on Christmas Eve

[Ninja0980]

http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/12/25/...ing/index.html

CNN) -- A Salvation Army major was shot dead in front of his three children on Christmas Eve in North Little Rock, Arkansas, authorities said.

Maj. Philip Wise, 40, was gunned down Thursday. He was found lying by the back entrance of a Salvation Army facility, said police spokesman Sgt. Terry Kuykendall.

Wise apparently dropped two bell ringers off at home and returned to the Salvation Army building with his three children, ages 4, 6 and 8. Two men carrying handguns approached them and demanded money before shooting Wise, Kuykendall said.

The suspects fled on foot.

Police received a 911 call at 4:17 p.m. Pulaski County Coroner Garland Camper said Wise's wife, Cindy, made the call from inside the building.

"My heart goes our for the family, losing their dad, and I guess having to witness it during this time of year," Camper told CNN affiliate KARK. "It's definitely going to be hard on the kids."

Wise had been active in the Salvation Army for 16 years and was assigned to the Baring Cross neighborhood of North Little Rock for the past three years.

There really are NO words for this... these children will have to live for the rest of their lives with the images of watching Daddy get murdered. And Christmas Eve will forever be the worst day of their lives.

[MadeaBecBec]

Major Phillip Wise, 40

The 40-year-old father of three joined the Salvation Army along with his wife, Cindy, 16 years ago, and they had spent the past few years reaching out to those in the Baring Cross neighborhood. The North Little Rock center provides youth programs, weekly church services and Sunday School and a food pantry, among other services.

Maj. Harvey Johnson, Wise's boss for the past year and a half, said Wise was an all-around good guy, a big teddy bear who loved sports. With Wise's children and Johnson's grandchildren around the same age, they shared many birthday celebrations together with their families.

http://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2...rities/?latest
My heart and sympathies are with Phillips family and loved ones, huge loss to the the charity community and all the way around. Wise was a good-hearted man and genuinely cared for people and others less fortunate. Rest in Peace Major Wise...

[TheMeaningOfItAll]

How sad. Those poor babies. My heart breaks for them and their family. I hope they catch the scumbags who did this.

[TheDepressor]

It takes a real POS to rob someone at a Salvation Army! They didn't have to kill him, especially in front of his children! I hope they catch these bastards very soon. How sad and horrible!

[Dakota Valkyrie]

Laquan Javaris Fitzpatrick, 19, was being held pending a capital murder charge in the death of Major Philip Wise, Police Chief Danny Bradley announced at a hastily called news conference Tuesday afternoon, just hours after Fitzpatrick’s arrest at a family residence in Helena-West Helena.

Bradley said one suspect was still at large, though he declined to give details because the investigation is ongoing. He said a $10,000 reward for information leading to arrests in the Wise shooting was still active.
[...]

Bradley said Fitzpatrick had “been on the screen” before his December 30 arrest on a gun charge in North Little Rock. He was released on bond in January after being held at the Pulaski Country Regional Detention Center in Little Rock.

The police chief said after Tuesday’s news conference he had some regret that Fitzpatrick was released, but “we didn’t have any evidence. You need evidence,” he said.

Since then, Bradley said, his department had been “doing old-fashioned police work” to build a case against Fitzpatrick.
[...]

Wise’s widow, Salvation Army Major Cindy Wise, attended today’s news conference.

“I’m just elated, ecstatic,” she said. “They (the police) called me around 1:15 p.m. to let me know. I’ve been waiting on this day every day since Phil …”

She said she told her three children of the arrest today afternoon before taking them to therapy.

“They are all just on cloud nine,” she said of the three, ages 4, 6 and 8. “They were all very excited.”

http://arkansasnews.com/2010/03/16/o...-army-slaying/

Private & abandoned (2008) MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/238012948
Gotta love his name: T#AT B()Y FOOLISH

[Dakota Valkyrie]

Laquan Javaris Fitzpatrick, 19, entered the not-guilty plea at an arraignment hearing in Pulaski County Circuit Court. Circuit Judge Barry Sims scheduled Fitzpatrick’s trial for the week of Jan. 24, one year and one month to the day after the fatal shooting of Salvation Army Maj. Philip Wise in North Little Rock.
[...]

Authorities allege that Fitzpatrick and Brandon Leavy, who was later shot and killed in another armed robbery attempt, went to the Salvation Army building in the Baring Cross neighborhood of North Little Rock for what was intended to be an armed robbery.

Wise was with his three children and was bringing back to the building that day’s donations still in the Salvation Army kettles. Police have never said how much, if any, money was stolen.
[...]

The Wise family lived in Maumelle. The three children — 4, 6, and 8 — witnessed their father’s shooting death and have received counseling to help them deal with the experience.

http://arkansasnews.com/2010/06/01/s...te-set/?cat=64

Sims set the capital murder case to begin Jan. 24, 2011 and the robbery case for May 3, 2011.
[...]

Leavy was fatally shot by a security guard during a purported robbery attempt at Dodge's Chicken convenience store in North Little Rock two weeks after Wise was killed.

http://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2...-army-slaying/