DEPTFORD TOWNSHIP, N.J. (KYW Newsradio) — Hundreds of people lined up along Delsea Drive in Deptford Township to watch a police procession bring the body of Officer Robert Shisler to a funeral home Tuesday morning.
Shisler’s body was moved from the Philadelphia Medical Examiner’s Office to Gloucester County, a process known as an honorable transfer.
The transfer followed another procession Monday night, which lasted more than an hour. The procession passed Shisler’s patrol car, which was parked outside the Deptford police station. The SUV has been covered in flowers, flags and other tributes to the 27-year-old.
Shisler died on Sunday. He was shot during a pedestrian stop on March 10. The suspect took off and a gunfight ensued, and Shisler was shot in the leg. The suspect died at the scene.
Shisler had been in the hospital ever since. Authorities said he developed several infections and his leg had to be amputated. He ultimately succumbed to his injuries while receiving treatment at Penn in Philadelphia.
Dennis Caltagirone watched the procession go by. He’s been turning on a blue porch light every night since Shisler was shot.
“He’s a hometown boy and he’s a hometown hero,” he said. “I think of him and his family. [We] need to support each other in a time like this.”
Bridget Palmer was there to do just that.
“I have a lot of friends that are police officers — their sons and their husbands,” she said. “It’s just something you do. The community all sticks together.”
Shisler is the first Deptford police officer killed in the line of duty in the department’s history.
A funeral is scheduled for Wednesday, May 17, at Pfleeger Concert Hall at Rowan University in Glassboro, according to Boucher Funeral Home. Relatives and friends are invited to attend a viewing from 9 a.m. to noon, with the funeral and a private interment to follow.
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