"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.
