KYW Newsradio Team Coverage
As a spontaneous memorial has emerged at the shooting scene, funeral arrangements have been announced for Philadelphia police sergeant Stephen Liczbinski and a trust fund set up for his family.
KYW's Mike DeNardo reports that a tent now protects the makeshift streetside memorial of candles, flowers and childrens' drawings on the spot where sergeant Stephen Liczbinski was gunned down.
Mary Ann Felsher, whose daughter lives here, says the entire neighborhood is grieving:
"It just breaks my heart. What happened here was so needless. It's so sad. And the people are here are affected so much by this."
The viewing is scheduled for Thursday evening at the Givnish Funeral Home in Northeast Philadelphia.
A funeral mass will be celebrated Friday at 12 noon at the Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul, on Logan Circle in center city Philadelphia.
Sgt. Liczbinski will be buried at Resurrection Cemetery in Bensalem, Pa. The viewing, services, and internment are open to the public.
Members of the Philadelphia Police Department’s 4th and 24th Districts have established a trust fund for the family of Sgt. Stephen Liczbinski.
Anyone wishing to make a donation can do so in the following ways:
-- By mailing a check payable to:
The Stephen Liczbinski Family Memorial Trust Fund
Police & Fire Federal Credit Union
901 Arch Street
Philadelphia PA 19107
-- Donations can also be personally taken to the 4th Police District headquarters, located at 1301 South 11th Street, or the 24th District headquarters, located at 3901 Whitaker Avenue or to any of the following Philadelphia Police and Fire Credit Union branches:
901 Arch Street
7604 City Avenue
8500 Henry Avenue
3338 South Broad Street
Leo Mall, Byberry and Bustleton Avenue
7500 Castor Avenue
3330 Grant Avenue
Anyone wanting to contribute to the fund for the Liczbinski family who needs more information should call the FOP donation hotline at 215-285-3171 or the main FOP switchboard, 215-629-3600.
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VIDEO: FALLEN OFFICER HONORED
Officials say the robbery happened shortly before 11:30am at a bank inside the Shop Rite supermarket along the 3500 block of Aramingo Avenue, and that the suspects were chased to Schiller and Almond Streets, where at least one of the men opened fire on Liczbinski.
Philadelphia police commissioner Charles Ramsey:
"It's my understanding that he was either in the car or had just gotten out of the car at the time he was struck."
Ramsey says Liczbinski was shot with a high-powered assault rifle, which penetrated his vest.
The suspect was chased to the 500 block of Louden Street where he was shot and killed by a police K-9 officer.
Ramsey says the officer was taken to Temple University Hospital, where he was pronounced dead:
"When you first get the page, your heart just sinks. This is hard on all of us."
Liczbinski, a 12-year veteran of the force, had been promoted to sergeant with the 24th District in November 2007.
Mayor Michael Nutter says Liczbinski leaves behind a wife and three children:
"I ask that we rally around his family and wrap our arms around them. He has obviously paid the ultimate sacrifice in serving his fellow Philadelphians."
Nutter called for a 30-day period of mourning, during which all city flags will be lowered to half-mast. The mayor also called for the religious community to recognize Sunday as a day of peace to pray for Liczbinski and his family.
Authorities from Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware were involved in a manhunt for the suspects who fled the scene. Police are investigating the possibility that the suspects in this robbery at the Bank of America branch are responsible for other robberies in Southwest Philadelphia.
KYW's Tony Hanson reports that as many neighbors in Port Richmond tried in vain to assist the dying officer, they were overcome by what they saw and heard.
Witnesses say they heard several shots -- very loud shots. Police say Sgt. Liczbinski was shot with an assault rifle.Thomas Carjewski was among many residents who rushed to aid the officer:
“One of the neighbors was screaming, 'A police officer's been shot! They shot the cop!' I ran around the front of the officer's car and he was shot. All the neighbors came out and tried to put pressure on his chest. He was hit in the chest. He was hit in the abdomen. They put pressure on there. I ran in the house, grabbed a phone and called 911.”
This man says the shooting shattered the quiet of Schiller and Almond Streets:
"It was very loud. I was sitting there and you heard 'pop, pop, pop, pop, pop.' And I mean, it sounded like it was right in here. It was really loud, the shots. I have never heard nothing that loud."
Nancy Braun describes a scene of chaos. As people were screaming and crying, she tried to comfort the sergeant:
"I was holding his head and one other guy was standing there, he was holding his arm trying to stop the bleeding from that. Another officer was holding his stomach wound and, in like 20 seconds, he just said, 'Tell my wife I love her.' "
One witness called it an execution. The sergeant’s gun was still in its holster.
Folks who know the Liczbinski family are reacting with sadness and disbelief.
This woman lives near the family in the city's Burlhome section:
"Michelle and Steve -- they've been the best neighbors ever. Steve was just a great guy. He's a wonderful neighbor and he's a wonderful cop."
Father Charles Bonner is pastor of St. Cecilia's Catholic Church, where the Liczbinskis attend Mass. He visited the family on Saturday afternoon:
"We just said some prayers. They're just so distraught. They know their faith, they know their prayers, and they'll have to respond with that. They're just really distraught."
A spokeswoman for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia says Cardinal Justin Rigali met Saturday night with Sgt. Liczbinski's family.
The archbishop has asked all 270 parishes to offer special prayers during mass for the family, and for an end to violence in the city.
This neighbor says she just can't believe what's happened:
"Just devastating. We just can't believe it. We just saw him yesterday, cutting his grass with his wife, working on their home, making a nice home for him and his family. And now he's gone. It's just heartbreaking. It really is."
KYW's Paul Kurtz reports, meanwhile, a Port Richmond flower shop has started a fund raising effort for the family of slain Philadelphia police sergeant Stephen Liczbinski.
He was a familiar face in the neighborhood and an occasional customer at A Rose Bouquet on Richmond Street:
"He bought flowers here for his wife on several occasions."
So Richard Siegel and flower shop co-owner Jose Martinez have decided to donate all the proceeds from Mother's Day sales to sergeant Liczbinski's family:
"It's just our way, a small way of saying 'hey, we care about what's going on in the community.' People have to step up to the plate, people have to come forward and do something, otherwise this terrible situation we're dealing with is never going to stop, it's gonna get worse.
The fundraiser runs through Sunday.
Additional reporting by KYW's Michelle Durham, Ian Bush, and Jim Melwert.
Photo #2 by KYW's Mike DeNardo
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