Sep 26, 2008 6:09 am US/Eastern
Charges Expected In 'Straw Purchase' Case
PHILADELPHIA (CBS 3) ―
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Daniel Giddings (File)
CBS
A South Carolina man will be charged Friday with lying on a transaction form for a gun that killed a Philadelphia police officer, sources said.
Police said Daniel Giddings obtained a semi-automatic weapon from Jason Mack through an illegal straw purchase.
Giddings shot and killed Officer Patrick McDonald on a North Philadelphia street Tuesday afternoon. Giddings, who wounded a second officer, was killed by police.
Mack is in police custody and is expected to be charged with felony lying on a firearm transaction form Friday morning at the Federal Courthouse in South Carolina.
A straw purchase is when an individual without a criminal record purchases an item, most often a firearm, for a criminal who cannot legally obtain the item.
"What is it with these punks with guns that they think that they can outgun and outshoot Philadelphia police officers," District Attorney Lynne Abraham said.
Investigators suspect the semi-automatic weapon used to murder Officer McDonald made its way into Giddings' hands through the straw purchase.
Mack claimed the weapon and a dozen others were stolen from him.
Abraham also expressed outrage that Giddings, a career criminal, was allowed to roam the streets.
"This guy should have been away for the maximum, absolute max," Abraham said.
Officer McDonald's viewing for family and friends will be held September 29 from 3 to 6 p.m. at Givnish Funeral Home in Northeast Philadelphia. A public viewing will immediately follow at 6 p.m.
On September 30, there will be a viewing from 7:30 a.m. to Noon at the Cathedral Basilica of SS. Peter and Paul. A funeral mass will begin at Noon with burial immediately following at Resurrection Cemetery in Bensalem.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
Officer Pawlowski Killed In Line Of Duty
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