Blue Line Embraces Family of Slain Police Officer

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A Birmingham restaurant is hosting back-to-back fund-raisers next weekend for the family of a West Bloomfield police officer who was killed in the line of duty in 2012.

Patrick O’Rourke was responding to a 911 call in September 2012 when he was shot and killed by Ricky Coley, a former auto industry executive who was distraught over a custody fight. After a lengthy standoff with police in which hundreds of rounds of gunfire were exchanged, Coley shot himself.

Three years later, O’Rourke’s widow, Amy, told The Birmingham Eccentric she and the couple’s four children still “have a lot of ups and downs, especially this time of year when it’s back to school and all the holidays are here.”

The blue line that embraced the O’Rourke family is responding again with the Nov. 20-21 fund-raisers at The Stand, 34977 Woodward Ave., in Birmingham

“I have my blood family and I have my blue family — they’re just wonderful people,” Amy O’Rourke said. “I am once again very honored and in awe of our community’s kindness and generosity to our family. They’re just very loving toward us and I appreciate that.”

The first half of the event is a “Back the Blue Night” from 6-10 p.m. Friday, featuring live music, celebrity bartenders and a chili cookoff. Tips, along with a portion of the receipts, go to the O’Rourke family.

Then, on Saturday, the “Stand with the Badge Dinner” begins at 6 p.m. A four-course gourmet dinner with wine pairings also includes a silent auction and wine bag auction.

Information on both events is below.