West Bloomfield — The wife of a West Bloomfield police officer who was killed in the line of duty Monday told WXYZ-TV in a video interview that her husband would want people to know that he forgives the gunman who shot and killed him and “that he would want the light of Christ, the love of Christ, to shine out of him right now.”

In the news Watch the interview from WXYZ, Channel 7 Action News Read the Story on WWJ.com

Amy O’Rourke, a mother of four and a member of St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church in Fenton, said her faith and the prayers of the community are “holding me up right now,” as she deals with the loss of her husband, Patrick, who died after being shot during a standoff late Sunday and early Monday morning at a home in West Bloomfield. The 39-year-old’s funeral was attended by thousands of friends, family and fellow force members Friday at the Fenton church.

According to WWJ Newsradio 950, Amy O’Rourke told mourners her husband’s undercover name was “John Paul,” after the late pontiff, and that she believed Patrick spent his first days in heaven with one of his favorite singers, Elvis Presley.
During the interview with Channel 7 Action News, O’Rourke said the Catholic faith she shared with her husband gave her strength to endure the situation.

“I love everyone, my family, friends, people I don’t know, people who share our love for Christ and the Eucharist and all the sacraments and all the things God’s given us for our senses — the tastes, the sights, the sounds of the Church,” she said. “I just embrace them.”

“That has given me peace. Today I was at Mass and I just had my eyes closed and Pat was sitting with me. I could feel him, just like every Sunday.”

Amy O’Rourke said Patrick “would want you to know how much he loved the Lord, oh my goodness, so much. And he shared it with our children, shared it with our family and shared it with me.”