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Philly officers mourn cop fatally shot while pursuing suspect
The Philadelphia Inquirer
PHILADELPHIA — As the Police Department prepares for next week’s funeral of Officer Patrick McDonald, shot and killed earlier this week by a fugitive, the officer who was wounded in the incident was released from the hospital yesterday.
Officer Richard Bowes, 36, who was shot in the leg by Daniel Giddings, 27, whom he shot and killed, was sent home from Temple University Hospital.
Bowes was wounded after he arrived on motorcycle to back up McDonald in a struggle that started Tuesday afternoon after a routine traffic stop in North Philadephia. McDonald was shot repeatedly before Bowes and two other officers confronted Daniel Giddings.
After Giddings shot Bowes in the leg, Bowes returned fire and struck Giddings as he continued shooting while fleeing. The injured Giddings kept running until he fell dead on 17th Street.
When authorities found him, Giddings was still clutching the .45-caliber pistol used to kill McDonald and injure Bowes, both veteran Highway Patrol officers.
Local and federal authorities immediately traced the semiautomatic Taurus handgun back to Jason Mack, 29, of Columbia, S.C. Police said they believe Mack illegally purchased that gun and several others, including one that was connected to an armed robbery in Philadelphia.
Mack was arrested Thursday by agents with the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives in Columbia and charged with providing false information on his application to purchase the weapon.
John Hageman, bureau spokesman in Philadelphia, said Mack indicated he was not a drug abuser on the application, but an investigation revealed otherwise.
Hageman said authorities are still determining how Giddings got the gun. Mack was arraigned in South Carolina yesterday morning and released on his own recognizance.
Law enforcement officials here said others who helped Mack obtain the gun may face charges as well.
Copyright 2008 The Philadelphia Inquirer