GREENSBORO, N.C. — Family, friends and members of the community gathered in downtown Greensboro Wednesday in solidarity for Sgt. Philip Dale Nix.

What You Need To Know

  • Sgt. Philip Dale Nix was shot and killed after attempting to stop a crime at a Sheetz gas station

  • The suspect who shot Nix is looking at life in prison and the death penalty

  • Over 100 were at Wednesday's vigil

Nix was shot and killed after attempting to stop a crime at a Sheetz gas station. The suspect who shot Nix is looking at life in prison and perhaps the death penalty.

Over 100 people attended the vigil in support for Nix, his family, the Greensboro Police Department and other victims who have lost their lives to gun violence. 

“It's going to be very hard to replace Sgt. Nix,” said Rick Alston, an assistant chief of the Greensboro Police Department. “He was such a pillar in the community, and with the Greensboro Police Department he did so much for victims. And he was a true victim's advocate.”

Nix was the supervisor of the family victims’ unit and worked closely with the Guilford County Family Justice Center in Greensboro. 

“He talked about the Family Justice Center being his family,” said Catherine Johnson, the director of the Family Justice Center. “He always had his FJC jacket on, and he would buy swag and share it with partners in the building and really believed in collaboration and what it meant to work together to solve complex issues.”

The vigil held Wednesday was a testament that more work has to be done to prevent gun violence. 

Alston said fighting gun violence is important, because it is tearing apart the community and the department.