Does Adam Ruzek Die on Chicago PD? Is Patrick Fleuger Leaving?

Adam Ruzek is the true hero of the Season 10 Chicago P.D. finale. Thanks to his undercover work, he was able to successfully halt The Beck’s domestic terrorist plot that would have killed many children. But he was gravely injured in the process, and the last we saw him, he was barely alive. Does Adam Ruzek die on Chicago P.D.? Warning: Spoilers for the finale below. 

Chicago P.D. is NBC’s drama series following the personal and professional lives of patrol officers and Intelligence Unit detectives at the Chicago Police Department’s fictional 21st District. The show is a spinoff of Chicago Fire, Chicago Med and Chicago Justice, which exist in the same universe. Chicago P.D. is currently in its 10th season and was recently renewed for Season 11, our sister site Variety reported in April 2023.

Patrick John Flueger plays Adam Ruzek, an officer in the CPD Intelligence Unit on the Chicago-based crime procedural. Flueger’s portrayed Ruzek since the first episode of the first season in 2014. Most recently on the show, his character got back together with Kim Burgess (Marina Squerciati), his ex-fiancé who he’s had 10 seasons of up-and-down romance with.

For much of Season 10, Ruzek has been undercover trying to stop a mass domestic terrorist attack by the Beck family. Fleuger revealed in an NBC Insider interview in April 2023 that Ruzek’s undercover work in Season 10 was especially hard on his character. “It’s this odd thing. Being undercover, that kind of stuff was something that he always loved, but this one has become so complicated,” he said, adding that it caused a strain between him and Burgess. 

He continued: “He’s with this young woman that I think he cares for and can see needs help, and she has a young son that I think he cares for. He has been told nothing but lies his entire life other than what he hears from his mom, who only has so much power to tell him the truth. That duality is not fun [for Ruzek], especially when he wants to go home, when he’s got a daughter, and he’s got this woman that he’s rekindled his romance with.”

So, after Ruzek’s months-long undercover work resulted in his character being shot, does he die in the Chicago P.D. finale? Here’s everything that we know. 

Does Adam Ruzek die on Chicago P.D.? We’re not sure, but Ruzek is in pretty bad shape after getting shot in the Season 10 finale of Chicago P.D. The dramatic turn of events starts at the beginning of the episode, when Samantha (the daughter of Richard Beck (a self-proclaimed domestic terrorist and white supremacist), attempts to leave town after her father moved his plan to that day. When Ruzek learns from Samantha that the date of the attack was moved up, he is desperate for answers. She reveals that the attack will have “multiple targets” and “mass casualties,” so Ruzek has no choice but to tell her his identity and arrest her. 

Samantha does not want to cooperate with the police because she’s scared that her father will kill her and take her son Callum. In response, Ruzek tells Samantha that he will protect Callum – she just needs information from her in exchange for her immunity. She agrees to the deal and reveals the name of her father’s associates and the locations of his properties. Thanks to Samantha’s intel, the Intelligence Unit arrests Beck’s partners while also finding cash, drugs, explosives and firearms. The team also finds blueprints that outline Richard’s grand scheme to blow up Chicago elementary schools largely attended by children of color.

With Richard still at large, Ruzek brings Samantha and Callum home so they can pack and be moved to a safe house for protection (they told Callum that they were going on a “camping trip.”) After Ruzek finds Callum hanging up the phone with Richard, the boy aims a gun at Ruzek. “He says to call him if mom ever tried to make me leave,” Callum told Ruzek. “He says I can’t go camping, not without him… He said that you’re trying to trick us. My grandpa is trying to save the world and he says that you’re trying to stop him…You know he’s doing it for us. He’s getting rid of all the bad people, and you’re going to stop him.”

Callum ends up shooting Ruzek in the chest. Instead of trying to help him, Samantha takes Ruzek’s phone from his pocket, and he bleeds out on the ground. With the last bit of energy he has, Ruzek drags himself to the nearby staircase where his phone is. He manages to call Burgess to tell her he’s hurt and Voight (Jason Beghe) arrives with paramedics. Ruzek is rushed to the hospital and into emergency surgery. Unfortunately, that was the last time we saw Ruzek for the rest of the finale and his status is unknown.

Thankfully, later in the episode, Burgess and Voight track down Samantha, Callum and Richard. The intense moment ended with Richard getting shot by Atwater.

Is Patrick Fleuger leaving Chicago P.D.? As of now, Flueger has not announced that he is leaving the show after the dramatic cliffhanger. On his Instagram, he hinted that he will be returning for Chicago P.D. Season 11 this fall. “05/24/2023 Finale time…Till we meet again y’all,” he wrote in the caption.

In recent episodes, Ruzek has been aiding Burgess through her therapy sessions and helping her embrace the trauma she’s been dealing with. In Season 10, Episode 14 “Trapped,” Burgess faces the post-traumatic stress she experienced in Season 8, Episode 16, in which she was kidnapped, shot and left for dead by two criminals she was investigating. In addition to helping Burgess, Ruzek is also raising his daughter while being undercover at the same time. 

The actor also admitted that his character is “exhausted,” leading us to believe that before he was shot, Ruzek was reaching a breaking point that could cause him to leave the force. “I think he’s exhausted, and I think it’s starting to wear on him that what he’s undercover for, it’s not for one individual. It’s for this possible mass attack. So I think it is weighing on him as things go forward.”

Chicago P.D. is available to stream on Peacock.

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For more on Chicago P.D., check out our gallery on the shocking reasons these Chicago P.D. characters were written off.