Fallen Cleveland police officer Jamieson Ritter remembered by friends, community members

Friends and community members are continuing to mourn the loss of 27-year-old Jamieson Ritter, the Cleveland police officer shot and killed in the line of duty early Thursday morning.

As flowers, notes and other tributes pile up in front of the Cleveland Division of Police's Third District to honor the fallen officer, Ritter’s loved ones in other states are wrestling with grief of their own.

“He was an incredible friend, and I know that he was an incredible son, just really an incredible human,” said close friend Jack Schwab.

Schwab says his friendship with Ritter began in their freshman year of high school together in Rochester, New York, and since then, they’ve been best friends.

He said Thursday morning, he woke up to a missed call from Ritter’s mom. When he called back, he got the devastating news Ritter was dead.

“I just, it's hard to fathom that I won't ever see him again because of the positive impact that he had on my life and his family continues to have on my life,” said Schwab.

Schwab says the news has been hard on their entire friend group, who all rushed to Ritter’s family’s home in New York within hours of hearing the news. However, in the middle of the grief, Schwab says he knows his friend died doing what he believed he was called to do.

“I think he really saw it as a duty, and I think that he felt, while he was capable of helping people, that he was obligated to do so.”

Ritter not only left a lasting impact on Schwab, but on George Freeman, a Cleveland resident who lives in the area where Ritter patrolled.

“Me and probably my friends that experienced him are still just really taking it all in right now, like wow,” said Freeman.

Freeman says he developed a friendship with Officer Ritter over the last few months after Ritter and his partner stopped by in May while on patrol.

According to Freeman, Ritter saw a big crowd outside Freeman’s home and introduced himself. He ultimately ended up having a meal with the family and let Freeman’s niece and nephew sit in his patrol car.

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