By David O’Reilly
The Philadelphia Inquirer
PHILADELPHIA — For the fourth time in the last year, thousands of area law enforcement officers and civilian mourners last evening somberly filed past the casket of a Philadelphia police officer killed in the line of duty.
This time, they were there to honor Officer Patrick McDonald, who was shot and killed by a fugitive last week.
The line of mourners ran down Chalfont Drive, onto Academy Road and into the John F. Givnish Funeral Home in Northeast Philadelphia. Nineteen motorcycles from McDonald’s elite Highway Patrol lined the sidewalk.
“We’re just here to support the police,” said Bridget Wright, who wore a T-shirt bearing the image of Officer Isabel Nazario and the words Never Forget. Nazario was killed on duty this month when her patrol car was struck by the driver of a stolen SUV.
Wright said Nazario was a regular patron of her Aramingo Avenue coffee shop. “I can’t believe we’re here again,” she said, gesturing toward the throng of police at the funeral home, scene of all the past year’s wakes for Philadelphia police.
Among those on the lawn was Tiffany Raiker, 17, who took several photos of McDonald’s police motorcycle. On its seat was his helmet, and on its floorboards rested his black boots, polished to a mirror finish and turned backwards, a symbol of his having died on duty. The motorcycle windshield bore a life-size photo of McDonald gazing ahead, as if he were still on board.
“Every day on my way to school I would see him going to work,” said Raiker, who for 12 years lived three houses away from him. “He would ask me what my day was going to be like and say, ‘See you later.’ ”
McDonald’s patrol car was also parked on the lawn, with a photo of him in the rear window, along with his name and a large replica of his badge, No. 2831, draped in black.
McDonald, an eight-year member of the force, was killed last Tuesday after making a routine traffic stop in North Philadelphia. A passenger in the car, Daniel Giddings, 27, shot the officer repeatedly before being gunned down by police as he attempted to flee.
Officer Richard Bowes, 36, who was shot in the leg by Giddings as he came to McDonald’s aid, attended last night’s viewing. He had been discharged from the hospital on Friday.
Giddings had been released from prison Aug. 18 after serving 10 years for robbery and aggravated assault. He was wanted after escaping from a fierce fight Aug. 27 with police officers who stopped him in a car later discovered to have been stolen.
Last evening, Montgomery County Sheriff’s Deputy Chris Haber expressed bitterness that Giddings - who had a long history of violence dating back to childhood - had been paroled just weeks before shooting McDonald. “He should have been locked up for 80 years,” Haber said.
“It’s a very sad day.”
“It just shows how times have changed,” said Philadelphia Police Officer Mark Brown, who was waiting in line with Haber. “People have no respect anymore for police, or authority, or even for life.”
Much of Far Northeast Philadelphia seemed to be in mourning for McDonald. He was single and lived in the Morrell Park neighborhood. About two miles from the funeral home, an enormous American flag flew at half-staff outside an auto dealership on Academy Road. A block away, an illuminated sign outside a real estate office read, “God Bless Officer Patrick McDonald.”
Near the funeral home, three small children held up a sign that read “Thank U Phila Police We Support U.” One of the youngsters, Samantha Lederer, 9, said her mother, grandfather and grandmother were all Philadelphia police officers.
At last night’s viewing, mourners first passed through a large white tent. Inside, giant television screens showed photos of McDonald, who died at 30, as a boy and as a young man playing football, at the beach, or smiling with friends, as the sound system played some of his favorite songs.
After passing through the tent, mourners entered the main building and filed into the viewing room, where McDonald’s body lay in an open casket, in his officer’s uniform. His football jerseys were draped nearby.
The mourners, who passed by at about 40 per minute, were asked not to pause. Many made the sign of the cross as they went by. Some exited weeping.
“I don’t know how they handle something like this,” said Art Kelly, a longtime friend of McDonald’s parents. He described them as “fantastic people.”
“This is a very difficult time,” said Police Commissioner Charles H. Ramsey. “We may hurt inside, but the radio doesn’t stop. We have to be here to serve the public, but we do it with heavy hearts.”
The wake began in late afternoon with a procession led by Ramsey down Academy Road from Archbishop Ryan High School, from which McDonald graduated in 1996.
A police escort was scheduled to take McDonald’s casket this morning from the funeral home to the Cathedral Basilica of SS. Peter and Paul, where the viewing will resume at 7:30 a.m. A Funeral Mass follows at noon, with burial in Resurrection Cemetery, Bensalem.
Services Today For Slain Officer
A viewing for Officer Patrick McDonald will be held today, beginning at 7:30 a.m., at the Cathedral Basilica of SS. Peter and Paul, 18th Street and the Parkway.
A Funeral Mass will be said at noon at the cathedral with Cardinal Justin Rigali presiding. The Mass will be shown on a large closed-circuit television screen outside the cathedral.
Interment will be in Resurrection Cemetery in Bensalem. A funeral cortege will depart from the cathedral for the cemetery about 1:30 p.m. The route is I-676 to I-95 north to Bensalem. The procession will take Exit 95 at Street Road west, then north on Hulmeville Road to the cemetery. I-676 and I-95 will be closed while the procession passes. Bensalem police said Street Road from I-95 to Hulmeville Road, and Hulmeville Road to Gibson Road, will be closed from 1:30 to 5 p.m.
Copyright 2008 Philadelphia Newspapers, LLC