LORAIN, Ohio — A group of local Lorain businesses, who wish to remain anonymous, came together to raise money to fund the creation of shirts to honor the three Lorain officers who were shot.
The design was approved by the Lorain Police Department and features the department's official badge.
Three badge numbers are printed across the front. Starting with officer Phillip Wagner — 4178 — followed by officer Brent Payne in the middle, and officer Peter Gale's badge number on the end. On the back of the shirt, it says "Back the Blue."
Lorain County at Large Tony Dimacchia spoke with a resident about the tragedy that happened.
"We just started talking about the incident. You know, how devastating it has been for our community and our department," Dimacchia said.
The councilman and resident said they both wondered why the community is not as supportive all the time.
"It's unfortunate that it's these types of moments and tragedies that rally us to support our police department, and we're like, 'How do we come up with a way to consistently support?'" said Dimacchia. "We just started talking and came up with the idea for these shirts. And why not put it on a t-shirt?"
Approved by the department, the shirt bears the badge numbers of Officer Wagner, Officer Brent Payne and Officer Peter Gale with "Back the Blue" on the back of it.
Local businesses stepped up to help fund the first run of the shirts. Now, all proceeds from shirt sales will go directly back to the department and to officers who have been directly affected— starting with the families affected by the shooting.
Dimacchia said they plan to give all the employees in the Lorain Police Department one of the shirts, saying it's "something that we want them to be proud of."
"Use it as a, hopefully, a positive memory of what officer Wagner did for this department, and how important he was to everybody as a brother. And also, let's remember those other officers that you know were stuck in the middle of this tragedy," the councilman said.
Dimacchia said the hope is to raise some significant funds to continually support their law enforcement and specifically the Lorain Police Department.
As the community united over the tragedy, they agreed that Officer Wagner and his fellow officers should be remembered and recognized not just today, but every day.
"I’m very proud of our city. We’re close knit and... this just really hurts … it really hurts. God bless his family," said resident Karen Rossi.
Every member of the police department will receive a shirt for free.
You can purchase a shirt by scanning the QR Code or by CLICKING HERE.
More information can be found on the Friends of the Lorain Police Department Facebook Page.
Donations are also being accepted from businesses that want to help pay for the shirts.
Some companies, like Marco's Pizza, are stepping up in a big way—donating a portion of their sales on Thursday to the Lorain Police Officer Charitable Foundation.
