People flood the patrol car of fallen Cleveland police officers with gifts

CLEVELAND, Ohio (WOIO) – In just 24 hours, the memorial for slain Cleveland police officer Jamieson Ritter has grown exponentially, and with it the stories of people telling the impact he had.

“They go out every day and selflessly put themselves in danger for people they don’t even know,” said retired Fairlawn police officer Tom Pengel. “He will live forever as a true hero here in the city of Cleveland.”

From balloons and flowers to stuffed animals, people steadily flocked to the memorial outside the Cleveland Police Department’s Third Precinct on Friday.

“My son was suffering in the hospital, but his heart and concern went out to the officer,” Sheari Conner said. “He just wanted us to leave our balloons from the hospital stay and leave our support.”

She says her son Grayson had to undergo surgery for a twisted intestine; her stay there overlapped with Ritter’s.

“I’m really sad. It was so close to the Fourth of July and he didn’t even get to celebrate. Why, why did this have to happen?” Grayson said.

Grayson added that the balloons they brought with them were the ones in his room at the hospital and that he felt like “they belonged here.”

Others told stories about what kind of cop Ritter was when he was on patrol.

“He wanted to tell us that our garden looked very nice and he came in and talked to my mother,” Martina Brown said. “We really appreciated that and … my mother was very hurt {by his death}, she said she had only just seen it and it’s really hard to see that, it’s really hard to see that.”

Brown runs a daycare in the area and quickly turned around to dish out praise for the landscaping, taking the time to chat with her family in the process.

“To his parents, you raised a great guy,” Brown said.

The people who keep coming by and bringing gifts want to show the Ritter family that they are not alone.

“I think the community cares a lot more than they realize. It’s great and nice to see this all as a tribute to the officer… um, who had our backs,” Pengel said.

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