By Mitch Mitchell
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
FORT WORTH, Texas — Fundraising organizers gathered with police chiefs from across the region Wednesday night to present two checks to the wife of a wounded Fort Worth police officer Matt Pearce.
The money was donated to offset expenses of Pearce’s wife and two young daughters who have become fixtures at John Peter Smith Hospital since March 15, the day Pearce was shot in an ambush set by a fleeing suspect.
At a presentation at the Fort Worth police officers training center, Laura Pearce received a check for $40,701.31 from a fundraiser at 20 Chick-fil-A restaurant outlets. A second check was from the Mansfield Police Officers Association and Chick-fil-A, which raised $113,171.76.
The grand total: $153,873.07.
Matt Pearce, 36, watched a livestream of the event in his room at JPS. Earlier Wednesday, Pearce and his wife taped a video of thanks for the community’s support.
Pearce seemed to smile as one side of his jaw drooped.
“We’re going to keep fighting because you all are fighting,” Pearce said.
On March 15, Pearce was one of the officers chasing Ed R. McIver, 42, and his son through far west Fort Worth.
In a standoff, McIver, who had an extensive criminal record, was shot and killed by police.
Police officials have not reported how many times Pearce was shot, but the GoFundMe page for his family states he was hit seven times — in the cheek, arm, chest and leg.
McIver’s son, Ed McIver Jr., 20, faces charges including evading arrest and attempted capital murder. He is in the Tarrant County Jail with a total bail of more than $2 million.
Pearce’s wife, Laura, told the gathering at the training center that her husband doubted himself after being wounded.
“He was down on himself for a while, thinking that he should have waited for guys with bigger and better guns,” Laura Pearce said. “All he had was his handgun.”
Laura said she told her husband that no one else thought that.
“Everyone believes you’re a hero,” she said.
The support from the community has made a huge difference in his attitude, Laura Pearce said. Her husband is a changed man, a better man, yet still back to his old self. His confidence has returned, he is out of the intensive care unit and he is “completely unattached” from the hospital’s machines, she said.
Quoting the person who leads her Bible study class, Laura Pearce told the crowd, “We are on the sidelines of a miracle.”
Fort Worth Police Chief Joel Fitzgerald told the crowd that North Texas is a special place. Within hours of Pearce being wounded, police chiefs across the region contacted Fitzgerald to ask how they could help, he said.
The people of North Texas know what police officers face every day, Fitzgerald said.
“You have to come from somewhere else to know how special this is,” Fitzgerald said. “People here stand up for each other. And this happens in North Texas more than anywhere else in the country.”
The final tally of financial support for the Pearce family is not complete, said Sherri Aaron, wife of Mansfield Police Chief Tracy Aaron.
Some Dickey’s Barbeque Pit restaurants set aside a portion of Wednesday’s sales to be donated to the Pearce family, and multiple Whataburger restaurants plan a similar fundraising drive from 4 p.m. until 7 p.m. Thursday.
Also, more than $85,000 has been collected on the Matt Pearce Family GoFundMe page, which was not included in the donation totals on Wednesday, Aarons said.
“The support is what has gotten me through this and what will get Matt through this,” Laura Pearce said.
This report includes material from the Star-Telegram archives.
Copyright 2016 the Fort Worth Star-Telegram