JACKSONVILLE, N.C. (WITN) – A fellow Marine is remembering a Jacksonville police officer as a devoted father and friend to others after he was killed Tuesday on Camp Lejeune by military police, according to sources.
Officer Philip Chiorino, who also served as the school resource officer at Jacksonville Commons Elementary School, was pronounced dead following the shooting on Tuesday.
According to a press release, at 12:40 p.m., Jacksonville police were notified of the incident involving an off-duty police officer on the military base.
Online records show Chiorino lived on Tarawa Terrace and that his wife is an active-duty Marine. Chiorino served in the United States Marine Corps.
Paul Hein, who served in the Marine Corps with Chiorino, said he remembers when Chiorino found out he was going to be a father.
“He just seemed happy to be a father, happy to be a husband,” Hein said. I think that’s something nice to reminisce on, the great brotherhood that he had with others. How friendly he was to everybody and how excited he was to take that uniform off and be a regular human at home as well.”
Hein said he hadn’t talked to Chiorino since 2024 but said he was a joy to be around. He said some comments made on social media about Chiorino don’t fit the man he remembers.
“There is nothing that I can say bad about this individual in the time that I knew him. Obviously, I see the comments on Facebook right now, and that’s definitely not like the Chiorino that my fellow peers and I knew, but it’s all hearsay at this moment,” Hein said.
Jacksonville Police Chief Jarad Phelps said any loss of the department hurts, but they will move forward.
“We’re working through the different aspects of losing a colleague is difficult,” Phelps said.
Phelps says a top priority is taking care of the family he leaves behind.
“Right now, we’re focused on making sure Officer Chiorino’s wife and family are taken care of,” Phelps said.
A crisis team was at Jacksonville Commons Elementary School today following the loss of their school resource officer and will remain on campus next week.
Details of what led up to the shooting have yet to be confirmed by authorities.
The investigation is being run by the Naval Criminal Investigative Service.
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