GREENSBORO, N.C. — Greensboro leaders just wrapped up a vigil for Sergeant Philip Dale Nix downtown at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 3.
They wanted to pray for peace and try to bring comfort to a grieving city.
Sgt. Nix's life and legacy left a lasting impression, including on Brian James, the former Greensboro police chief.
He said the bond between officers is unlike many others.
"It is a family and you feel that loss. No one is feeling the loss as much as his wife, his son, his parents, and his extended family. But the department certainly feels a loss. And even when you retire from the department as I did and many have, we hurt too. We are still Greensboro police officers," James said.
He worked with Sgt. Nix and knew his character and his commitment to protect and serve, well.
He said Nix's bravery during the robbery didn't surprise him.
State, city, and local leaders expressed their condolences during the memorial. They said Sgt. Nix spent his career focused on homicide prevention. He died from the very thing he was trying to end.
WFMY News 2's Nixon Norman spoke with two men who worked at businesses Sgt. Nix often visited. Both of them say they were overwhelmed by the kindness he always showed and that he quickly became a friend.
"Dale was a good guy, you know, I had known him for over 20 years. It's just so heartbreaking," Charles Rizzo said, he worked at a Starbucks Sgt. Nix frequented.
"He was the nicest officer I have ever seen, he was very much a people person," Isa Abuzuaiter said, owner of the Marathon gas station off Market Street and husband of Greensboro Councilwoman Marikay Abuzuaiter.
Both of the men met Sgt. Nix as a customer. Rizzo worked at a Starbucks where Sgt. Nix often went to back in the late 90's and early 2000's during his time as a 911 operator.
Rizzo left a Starbuck's coffee cup on Sgt. Nix's memorial in front of Greensboro's Police Department read, "going to miss our talks at Starbucks, Godspeed, Chuck Rizzo."
"He'd always be out there drinking his coffee, reading his book, he was talking to me about how he wanted to be a cop," Rizzo said.
Sgt. Nix didn't just frequently go to Starbucks, Abuzuaiter said he stopped into his gas station nearly every day, really leaving an impression on all he met.
"He was a nicest man you ever seen, so that broke my heart right there you know, this man… everybody, he was loved by everybody," Abuzuaiter said.
Rizzo says one of the best ways to keep nix's memory alive, is to be more like him, "as far as going forward, just to be a good person, just live life like he did," to selflessly serve others and always be a friend.
Vigil for Sgt. Nix
Sgt. Nix's body was escorted by multiple agencies on Wednesday afternoon. His body was driven from the medical examiner's office in Raleigh to Hanes Lineberry Funeral Home in Greensboro.
Sgt. Nix died Saturday when police said he was fatally shot while trying to stop a crime at the Sheetz gas station off Sandy Ridge Road in Colfax. Three suspects were arrested in connection with the shooting.
Funeral arrangements have not yet been announced.
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