Shootings shake area near campus

Last week, two shootings involving police occurred within blocks of campus.

Students were rocked last week when the news of two shootings within blocks of campus broke.
Around 6 p.m. on Feb. 3, two Philadelphia Police Department Highway Patrol officers got word of a robbery in progress in a residence on the 1800 block of North 18th Street, Philadelphia Police spokesman Lt. Frank Vanore said.

When the officers responded to the call, they saw three men inside the home committing the robbery. After one of the robbers saw officers through a window and began shooting at them, the officers returned fire, Vanore said. The three men attempted to exit the rear of the home, but an officer covering the exit intercepted them. Another exchange of gunfire occurred and one of the suspects, Lenford Fletcher, 31, of the 1200 block of Passamore Street, was wounded in the arm and arrested at the scene. Another suspect was arrested as well, while the third fled before police later apprehended him on the 1700 block of North Gratz Steet.

The other two suspects were identified as Mikle Eubanks, 29, of the 6700 block of Large Street and Jason Graddick, 31, of the 1100 block of the Windrim Avenue. All three were charged with attempted murder, aggravated assault, burglary and related offenses, Vanore said.

At 9:30 p.m., officers from the 22nd District stopped a suspected stolen SUV at Girard Avenue and Broad Street. The driver drove off and was later trapped on Oxford Street near 16th Street between a Highway Patrol car and the 22nd District officers who followed the suspect.

In an attempt to escape, the suspect put the SUV in reverse then in drive, hitting and pinning the two Highway Patrol officers between their car and the SUV. One of the officers shot at the suspect, wounding him in the leg.

The suspect fled and was arrested 12 blocks away on the 1900 block of North 25th Street. The suspect, Andrew Bell, 35, of the 3300 block of Kensington Avenue was treated at Temple Hospital for his injuries. The two Highway Patrol officers were also treated but did not sustain any serious injuries.

Bell was charged with aggravated assault, attempted murder and possession of stolen property. He had 38 prior arrests.

Brian Dzenis can be reached at brian.dzenis@temple.edu.

Cop deaths fuel gun control debate

Public opinion on gun control and police officers tends to run in stark contrasts. Either gun control is absolutely necessary, or it is unconstitutional. Police officers are either heroic saviors who risk their lives to keep us all safe or are little more than uniformed thugs.

Gov. Ed Rendell is taking on one of these issues, gun control, and using the other issue to do so. Rendell has renewed his attempt to create stronger gun legislation – or at least give cities the ability to do so themselves. One of his arguments has been the deaths of police officers, many of whom were killed by assault rifles much stronger than the police officers’ own weapons.

A specifically harrowing incident was the shooting of three Pittsburgh cops who were responding to a domestic disturbance call. When they arrived, they were ambushed by Richard Poplawski, a paranoid 23-year-old who believed the government was controlled by Zionists and wanted to outlaw guns.

When the police officers showed up, they were already out-gunned. In addition to a long-range rifle and a pistol, Poplawski had an AK-47, an automatic weapon used by militias and small armies around the world.

Rendell has used this instance to highlight the need for tougher gun control laws. During a press conference, he stood next to Pittsburgh Police Chief Nate Harper Jr. and said the triple homicide should, if nothing else, make people understand the need for stronger gun laws.

Rendell’s argument has some merit. Poplawski didn’t do drugs, wasn’t involved in a gang and wouldn’t have been deterred by the traditional solution argued for by gun-rights advocates, which is that tougher prison sentences and better enforcement is the real cause of America’s crime problems. Poplawski didn’t have a lengthy list of prior convictions, so the toughest law wouldn’t have stopped him.

Rendell is facing criticism, despite his support from Pittsburgh police brass. Critics say he is politicizing the tragedy of the Pittsburgh cops’ deaths.

This argument, that Rendell is politicizing a tragedy, may convince some people, but it doesn’t have a whole lot of substance. The police officers shouldn’t be used as pawns for political causes, but their deaths are relevant to gun control. It makes no sense that military weapons are floating around the gun market, waiting to be bought or stolen by a criminal who is looking for an edge.

Police officers can’t be expected to win the fight against crime when they are using handguns to take on machine guns. There is no legitimate use for a functioning AK-47, especially considering the horrendous task Poplawski used his for.

Stephen Zook can be reached by stephen.zook@temple.edu.

Inside the uniform, anxiety emerges anew

Thomas Hyers undergoes a transformation every day.

After putting on his police uniform and going to the 23rd Police District, located at 17th Street and Montgomery Avenue, Hyers becomes Lieutenant Hyers. But last week, the lieutenant thought, for just a moment, he wouldn’t be able to transform the next morning.

“I was in the room, standing next to [Officer] John Pawlowski’s body, and I thought to myself, it’s time to do something else,” Hyers said. “But then, you get some sleep, and you wake up and come back the next day.”

Pawlowski had been a student of Hyers during his time at the Police Academy. Hyers also knew four other police officers who have died in the last 16 months.

Last year, C. Scott Shields, the attorney for the National Rifle Association, said, per the Philadelphia Inquirer, “I’d advise every resident of Philadelphia to go out and buy their guns now.”

At the time, Philadelphia was fighting for the right to enact city-specific gun control laws in an effort to curb the number of shootings. The NRA filed a lawsuit, which was followed by a decision by the commonwealth to deny Philadelphia the ability to “ban possession or sale of assault weapons within city limits” and a one-gun-a-month limit.

If it’s evidence the commonwealth needs, it should visit the station where Hyers works.

“The captain and I look around and are concerned about [officers’] mental health,” Hyers said. “I’ve had a lot of officers in here, and they’re upset. Inside the blue shirt, behind the badge or the vest, is a person. Officers cry. They get upset. They get scared. [They do] all the things every one else does.”

Hyers added that the human health of police officers is being carefully monitored. The day after Pawlowski was shot, they “got right back on their horse, as heartbroken as they were, and they did their job.”

With husbands, wives and children urging them to quit, doing their duties is becoming increasingly difficult. Hyers said he received a text message from his daughter that day in regards to his safety.
If the NRA is concerned with the basic right of the Constitution for Americans to “bare arms,” the association should consider Philadelphians’ natural right to live.

Living scared is not the proper way to attend work every day, yet the police force in Philadelphia has to do so.

Limiting the number of guns sold and to whom they are sold will not make violence in Philadelphia evaporate, but it certainly will aid the process.

Philadelphians themselves need to think a moment longer before they choose violence.

“Nobody calls us for birthday parties. Nobody calls us for bar mitzvahs or christenings,” Hyers said. “If you’re called there, it’s because they’ve already tried to work it out, can’t, and someone said, ‘We better get the police here.’”

When people cannot control themselves because of domestic situations, Hyers said it puts everyone in danger.

“That’s why police officers are killed.”

Though people need to take responsibility for them, if they didn’t have guns, no police officer would have a gun pointed at his or her chest.

Ashley Nguyen can be reached at ashley.nguyen@temple.edu.

Tragic Reminder

We’re going to change the culture of this city.”

Mayor Michael Nutter said this Friday night following yet another tragedy in Philadelphia.

The city is left to mourn once more – the seventh time since May 2006 – over a Philadelphia Police officer killed in the line of duty.

Officer John Pawlowski, 25, was shot in the chest Friday night in Olney. Shortly after arriving at the hospital, Pawlowski succumbed to his wounds. The suspect, Rasheed Scruggs, was shot by the fallen officer’s partner and was also transported to the hospital in critical condition.

Simply put, the violence needs to stop.

“I am very angry about this. Very angry,” Nutter said at Albert Einstein Medical Center shortly after the officer died. “And the city will not rest until we’re able to take the necessary actions to protect our police officers [and] citizens.”

Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey carries a heavy heart as the cop-killing trend continues in this city. In his year heading the department, the city has seen an overall decrease in violent crimes – including murder.

But that doesn’t make the news of cops killed in the line of duty any easier to bear.

“This is something that’s going to weigh very heavy on the hearts of everybody,” Ramsey said. “I’ve been in policing for 40 years, and I’ve not seen this happen like this before.”

The mantra of “change” has been one of the most overused in the past year. Yet, despite the progress being made on the streets of Philadelphia, more change will always be needed. It starts with taking firearms and repeat offenders off the streets.

More times than not, it is that particular combination that leads to tragic events like Officer Pawlowski’s death. Ramsey described Scruggs as an “unsalvageable” career criminal who should never have been on the streets.

His next date in court for his previous charges would have been tomorrow.

Pawlowski patrolled the 35th District, the same once patrolled by Officer Chuck Cassidy, who died in November 2007 a few days after being shot by another career criminal. Pawlowski leaves behind a wife, who is two-months pregnant.

Black bands will reappear on badges of police officers throughout the city. The Fraternal Order of Police building on Spring Garden Street already draped a black cloth over its entry. These acts are both poignant memorials for the officer and painful reminders of the violence within our city.

In one sense, these acts are necessary. If we simply forget, change will be stagnant.

And that, we cannot afford.

Man critical after near-campus shooting

UPDATED: 11:00 a.m., Jan. 23, 2009

A 25-year-old male is in critical condition after a shooting at the corner of Broad and Susquehanna streets.

Philadelphia Police told The Temple News that a black male was shot at approximately 10:45 p.m. Thursday near Crown Fried Chicken, located across the street from White Hall, a Temple dorm.

The victim was shot in both legs and entered surgery early Friday morning. He is reported in critical condition at Temple Hospital, police said.

Surveillance cameras captured the altercation between at least two people, but the shooting wasn’t captured. As of Friday morning at 11 a.m., police have no suspects and no warrants for arrest.

Eyewitnesses reported seeing a group of four black males in their 30s at the scene.

Kalima Thomas, a senior journalism major, lives above the Peking Chinese restaurant near Crown Fried Chicken. She said she heard shots from her apartment. When she looked out her window, she saw three men fleeing the scene, running west down Susquehanna, she said.

Thomas said she saw one male bleeding from the lower body, appearing lifeless. Moments later, police responded to the location and Thomas went back to her apartment.

The victim was loaded onto a gurney and put into an ambulance.

As helicopters circled the surrounding blocks in search of the suspects, Thomas said she witnessed two of the three men being escorted back on Susquehanna Avenue in handcuffs to the squad cars.

However, Philadelphia Police said made no arrests at the scene.

At least three other Temple students have also claimed to witness the shooting from the steps of White Hall. The students said they saw an altercation among a group of males which led to one pulling a gun on another.

They said they heard four or five shots as they ducked for cover in the vestibule of the residence hall.

Matthew D. Wargo can be reached at mdwargo@temple.edu. Chris Stover contributed to this report.

Funeral for officer slain near campus to be held Tuesday

A small memorial with candles, flowers and a toy motorcycle now graces the sidewalk on Colorado Street between Dauphin and Susquehanna streets near where Philadelphia Police Officer Patrick McDonald was gunned down by Daniel Giddings on Tuesday afternoon.

Michael McFall, operations manager of Temple’s Campus Safety Services said that Temple Police have not received any newer information about the incident directly from the Philadelphia Police but that Temple Police personnel and their honor guard will be present at McDonald’s funeral Tuesday at noon at the Cathedral Basilica of Ss. Peter and Paul at 18th Street and Benjamin Franklin Parkway.

“At a time like this, we’re all brothers and sisters in law enforcement,” McFall said. ”And it’s appropriate to show our respect.”

The funeral Mass will follow a public viewing, which begins at 7:30 a.m.

Photo by Rachel Playe.

Morgan Zalot can be reached at morgan.zalot@temple.edu.

Two Philadelphia Police officers shot, one fatally, blocks from campus

Shots were fired shortly after 1:30 p.m., about five blocks northwest of Main Campus near 17th and Dauphin streets, injuring one Philadelphia Police officer and killing another, police said.

An officer from the Public Affairs division of the Philadelphia Police Department confirmed at 3:50 p.m. that one officer was fatally wounded in the incident and the other is in stable condition at Temple University Hospital. The Philadelphia Police are not releasing any more information at this time.

Officer Patrick McDonald, 30, was killed near 17th and Colorado streets, about a half a block from 17th and Dauphin streets, according to a Philadelphia Inquirer story on philly.com, and Officer Richard Bowes, 36, was shot in the leg. The Inquirer also reported that police recovered a large-caliber handgun near the scene.

Lt. Edward Woltemate of Campus Safety Services said that both officers were from the highway patrol division and that Campus Police responded to the incident to aid Philadelphia Police.

“We do have officers respond [for] emergency calls,” he said. “But we weren’t involved in any apprehension or gunfights.”

According to the TU Advisory e-mail sent to the university community at approximately 3:15 p.m., one suspect was shot and another is in police custody.

Woltemate said that Campus Police have not received any further details, but more information should be released tomorrow.

The officer killed in this incident is the third Philadelphia Police officer shot and killed in the line of duty in the past 11 months.

Stay with temple-news.com for continuing updates on this developing story.

Morgan Zalot can be reached at morgan.zalot@temple.edu.