Prayer Service Held for Fallen Officer

WEST OAK LANE - November 2, 2007 (WPVI) -- The city of Philadelphia hosted an interfaith prayer service Friday morning in honor of fallen police officer Charles Cassidy and his fellow officers.

Hosted at city hall, leaders from many of the city's religous organizations attended the service in a cry to end violence in the wake of officer's murder on Tuesday.

Mayor John Street told those in attendance, "We have a family that needs a lot of prayer, we have a police commissioner that needs to be comforted and supported, we have a Philadelphia Police Department that needs our support. These men and women need our prayers they need our support now."

Commissioner Sylvester Johnson said Friday morning that investigators have positive leads in the search for the killer. At a press conference just before the prayer vigil Johnson told reporters, "We feel pretty positive and confident that we're going in the right direction."

On Thursday night fellow brothers and sisters in blue, city leaders and a shaken community gathered to remember Cassidy near where Officer Cassidy lost his life at a doughnut shop in the city's Olney section. Organizers of the vigil demanded an end to the violence that is exhausting the city.

Police said they are receiving lots of tips and are taking in lots of people for questioning, but the killer remains on the loose.

The search is intense. Dozens of people similar to the description -- a heavy-set black man, with a distinctive gait and a spider tattooed on his left hand -- have been stopped or taken into custody. With weapons drawn, officers entered a home on North 4th Street to check on a guy who a tipster said bears a tattoo similar to one on the cop killer. He was taken in for questioning.

Another tipster said the killer would be on the SEPTA H bus, which was surrounded. Turns out the person wasn't the killer, but police said they will leave no stone unturned.

Cassidy was shot in the head during a robbery in a doughnut shop on Wednesday morning. He died at 9:40 a.m on Thursday.

"They are a great Philadelphia family. They are a strong family. They are going to be in all of our prayers," said Mayor John Street about Cassidy's family, "as we work our way through this very tragic moment."

A reward program is being coordinated by the Citizens Crime Commission in an effort to help track down Cassidy's killer. The reward amount has reached $115,000.

Anyone with information is asked to call 215-686-3334, 35 or 36.

"We still have an armed and dangerous man out there in the streets of Philadelphia," police commissioner Sylvester Johnson said. "The homicide unit is working around the clock."

Mayor Street said investigators were not getting quality leads, but he vowed the city would devote whatever resources are needed to catch the killer.

"We will not allow this crime to go unpunished," he said.

The shooting happened at 10:30 Wednesday morning. Officer Cassidy made his daily stop to check on things at the donut shop. He was in uniform when he walked right into the store.

"He actually walks into a robbery, a holdup, unbeknownst to him," Johnson said. The robber shot him almost immediately.

Police released portions of a chilling videotape that shows the hooded robber pushing aside two customers and waving a gun as he approaches the counter at a Dunkin' Donuts. It also shows him grabbing the fallen officer's pistol as he fled.

"Before he can do anything at all, he's shot," Johnson said. He said the officer had his hand on his gun when he was hit, falling to the ground just outside the shop's entrance.

The suspect can be seen picking up the officer's gun as he fled the store. The surveillance tape was sent to the FBI labs for enhancing.

Johnson said the suspect may have committed another robbery at the same store on September 18. Surveillance video of that robbery showed someone wearing a white hooded sweat jacket.

Police on Thursday displayed a photo of that jacket. The killer is believed to have discarded the jacket after the September robbery. The hooded jacket has a stylized cartoon drawing of a basketball player. (See image in the upper right)

The department also established a trust fund for his family. (Click here for details)

In a statement Thursday, Cassidy's family said they were "deeply appreciative of all the support and prayers from the police, the clergy, the community and many folks we don't even know." Officer Cassidy was a veteran with 25 years on the Philadelphia police force.

He is survived by his wife and three children. Two of them are in college, one is in high school.

(Copyright 2007 by Action News and 6abc. All Rights Reserved.)

Get more News »

• Email
• Print
• Report a typo
•