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Shooting caught on Fox 29 security video slowly coming into focus

DiDonato

By STEPHANIE FARR, farrs@phillynews.com 215-854-4225

Posted: January 19, 2010

Gerald Ung was going to school to be a lawyer.

Now he'll need one.

Ung, 28, a fourth-year law student at Temple University, found himself on the wrong side of the law early Sunday when he allegedly shot a recent Villanova University graduate six times in front of Fox 29's studios in Old City.

The victim, who has been identified by friends and family as 23-year-old Edward "Eddie" DiDonato Jr., remains in critical condition at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital.

DiDonato's family could not be reached for comment.

The shooting stemmed from an argument that turned physical, though police did not say what the fight was about.

The men are not believed to have met each other before Sunday morning.

The shooting happened about 2:30 a.m. on Market Street near 4th, and was captured by Fox 29's surveillance cameras.

Ung, who hails from Virginia, was apprehended by police at the scene and later charged with attempted homicide, aggravated assault and related offenses, police said.

DiDonato was shot in his chest, shoulders, abdomen and hand, police said.

A criminal-justice major and business minor at Villanova, DiDonato, of Blue Bell, was captain of the school's men's lacrosse team and played lacrosse and football at La Salle College High School, according to the Villanova Web site.

Ung lived on 43rd Street near Spruce in West Philadelphia while attending Temple law, police said.

Temple spokesman Ray Betzner said that Ung was a fourth-year law student taking evening classes.

He was scheduled to graduate this spring.