Patrick McDonald shot to death; 2nd cop wounded; gunman slain

IT ALL STARTED with a routine traffic stop on a sunny fall afternoon, in a gritty swath of North Philadelphia.

But Highway Patrol Officer Patrick McDonald apparently didn't know the passenger in the red 1995 Buick that he had pulled over at 17th and Dauphin streets was a violent felon and a wanted man. What took place over the next few minutes was anything but routine.

When it was all over, McDonald - a popular eight-year veteran of the force - lay dying a couple of blocks away, a second motorcycle officer who happened on the suspect was wounded by gunfire, and the alleged cop-killer, Daniel Giddings, 27, had been shot to death by police.

McDonald - 30, single, former star athlete at Archbishop Ryan - was rushed to Temple University Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 2:08 p.m., 23 minutes after he had radioed for backup.

Giddings, the man that police identified as his killer, was a convicted carjacker wanted in connection with a scuffle that injured two Highway Patrol cops last month.

The news of McDonald's death was a crushing blow to a city and a police force now reeling from an epidemic of murders of police officers over the last two years, with four deaths in the last 11 months alone.

Police officers at the crime scene still wore the black bands on their badges, mourning Officer Isabel Nazario - killed Sept. 5 when a suspect in a stolen vehicle plowed into her cruiser.

Likewise, many police officers who flocked to the Temple hospital wore baby-blue T-shirts commemorating Nazario, while large men in full uniform choked back tears. When Mayor Nutter addressed reporters at the scene, his voice rose with anger.

"I do not know what is going on in the minds of some of these individuals out here when they come upon a police officer," the mayor said. "Somehow they believe that they can engage in gunfights with us. I ask all the citizens of Philadelphia to pour out your hearts and wrap your arms around these [officers'] families who are experience this violence."

The Most Rev. Joseph McFadden, auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, administered the last rites and met with the family, which attends Christ the King Church in Northeast Philadelphia.

"They are very distraught," McFadden said. "It's very difficult. There's no way to take the pain and suffering away."

The chain of events that led to McDonald's death started when, according to police, Giddings bolted from the Buick that the officer had pulled over. They said Giddings was armed with a .40-caliber semiautomatic weapon.

Giddings then encountered other Highway Patrol officers on motorcycles, including Officer Richard Bowes, on Colorado Street near Susquehanna.

"They actually see the suspect running towards them," Deputy Police Commissioner Richard Ross said at a news conference outside the hospital. "They end up dropping their motorcycles and they end up chasing him . . . You've got to keep in mind that at this time, these officers had not even seen Officer McDonald."

They exchanged gunfire at Colorado and Dauphin streets, and Giddings shot Bowes, a 12-year veteran, in the hip.

Giddings, who was wounded in the gunbattle, continued to run until he collapsed at 17th and Dauphin streets, where he later was pronounced dead. Cops recovered his gun and another fully loaded clip.

"The whole incident went in one big circle," one investigator said. "It wrapped up right where it started."

Police last night were still looking for a woman who was driving the red Buick, which has a Pennsylvania license plate, GVH 7189. "We need to speak with her because she's a witness," the investigator said.

Meanwhile, in the section of North Philadelphia where the rapid-fire shootings and chase took place, there was widespread confusion and anger - some directed at the police and a lot at the daily cycle of violence.

The reactions were deeply colored by widespread rumors and by accounts of the shooting that didn't seem to agree with the facts of the bloody incident as they became known last night. The apparent misinformation reflected deep distrust of police.

"Cops are always using unnecessary force instead of trying to defuse the situation," said a nearby resident, Kelly White.

"That is someone's son that is lying dead there. We aren't ever told anything. All we know is that another young black man is dead and another cop is dead, too. They want us to give the cops respect, but the cops don't respect us."

There was considerable rage when family members of the slain suspect arrived at the shooting scene at 18th and Dauphin streets, many wearing traditional Muslim garb. "He was a Muslim!" one shouted, cursing loudly. "They killed him!"

A man in jeans and a T-shirt, who identified himself as the dead man's father, stormed up to police, yelling: "You might as well shoot and kill me, too! I want to see my son."

Giddings, according to court records, was sentenced to six to 12 years in prison in 2000 on robbery and aggravated-assault charges stemming from a carjacking in 1998. In that case, Giddings admitted jumping in the victim's car, whipping out a gun and ordering the victim to drive. Giddings stole $100 from the victim and ordered him out of the car. When the victim refused to relinquish his car, Giddings shot him in both legs and took off running, according to documents provided by a law-enforcement source.

Giddings was shipped up to the Albion State Correctional Institute, where he was a less-than-model prisoner. While behind bars, Giddings ran an "extortion ring" with another inmate and was cited for 25 misconducts.

Officials also cited him for assaulting an inmate and trying to arrange an assault on a prison staffer, according to documents obtained from the law-enforcement source.

Yet on Aug. 18, Giddings was paroled to a local community corrections center, from which he almost immediately fled, the sources said. He was declared delinquent on Aug. 25.

Two days later, Giddings was stopped for a traffic violation in North Philadelphia by Highway Patrol cops and led them on a chase. The cops eventually caught up to Giddings, but he sent two officers to the hospital with neck and back injuries and remained on the lam. An arrest warrant was issued for Giddings after the scuffle.

Neighbors mourned both the killing of McDonald and the daily climate of fear in North Philadelphia. They said that police daytime foot patrols of their area have increased in recent months but that the overall impact has been minor.

"This is getting bad out here. These boys are doing the wrong things," said nearby resident Kyle Powell. "It must be hard times here on the streets . . . Everyone is used to hearing gunshots."

That said, few witnesses to the daytime shooting spree were able to offer any detailed account of what really happened.

Wally McKenzie, a neighbor sitting on his steps, said he had heard the shots but hadn't thought much of it until the squad cars poured into the neighborhood.

"I never seen so many shots," McKenzie said. "But these shootings happen every day; it just so happened to be a cop this time."

At about 5:45 p.m., as the last rays of sun touched Temple hospital, officers three rows deep lined the entrance to the emergency room. They saluted as Highway Patrol officers escorted McDonald's body in a hearse to the morgue.

People in the community came out and took pictures on their cell phones of the procession.

Last night, a stream of blood soaked the cigarette butts and empty plastic containers that littered the sidewalk at 17th and Dauphin streets. The silver-haired elderly woman who hosed the pool of blood frowned as a woman's wretched screams echoed from across the street.

"It's rough out here," a resident who only gave his name as "City" told a reporter. "It's just going to get worse before it gets better . . . If there were more jobs and more opportunity people would be less hostile. I don't think we need more police, they're already here . . . Maybe we need the National Guard." *