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To kin, colleagues, slain officer Patrick McDonald was an inspiration

BEFORE THE CROWD of mourners arrived at the vigil for slain Officer Patrick McDonald, his girlfriend, Joanne Heary, crouched and placed a balloon and a single red rose where he was gunned down.

Family, friends and colleagues of slain police Officer Patrick McDonald gather for a vigil at the site where he was killed, in the 2200 block of Colorado Street in North Philadelphia.
Family, friends and colleagues of slain police Officer Patrick McDonald gather for a vigil at the site where he was killed, in the 2200 block of Colorado Street in North Philadelphia.Read moreDAVID MIALETTI/Daily News

BEFORE THE CROWD of mourners arrived at the vigil for slain Officer Patrick McDonald, his girlfriend, Joanne Heary, crouched and placed a balloon and a single red rose where he was gunned down.

The bullet holes dug into the concrete are a reminder of Tuesday's gunfire that killed McDonald, 30, an eight-year police veteran and the second Philadelphia officer to be killed in the line of duty this month.

The police force is still coping with the Sept. 5 death of Officer Isabel Nazario, 40, who was killed when her squad car was rammed by a driver in a stolen vehicle.

"As a department we're still very hurt," said Capt. Branville Bard, of North Philadelphia's 22nd District, who added: "This is nice when you see the community come out."

A modest crowd of cops and civilians joined the vigil on Colorado Street near Dauphin, many too numb to express emotion.

As community activist C.B. Kimmins spoke, Heary - a police officer in the Northeast's 15th District - hung her head, her hands tucked deeply into the pockets of an oversized sweatshirt bearing the logo of the Police Department's football team, for which McDonald played.

"He's very dedicated to Highway Patrol," Heary said of McDonald. "He came out and did his job. He loved the motorcycle, the 25th District . . . Everything he did, he gave it his all."

Officer Edward Allen, of Central Detectives, said that McDonald was known as the overachiever.

"[He was] always trying to make an arrest, always into something," said Allen.

The hurt from McDonald's slaying has rippled throughout the city, and resonated even with schoolchildren.

Earlier yesterday, a group of fifth-graders from the Mathematics, Civics and Sciences Charter School wrote letters to McDonald's family and delivered them to the Fraternal Order of Police's lodge.

Most of the students have a parent or a relative who is a police officer, so they felt compelled to come pay their respects, said Tina Lloyd, an MCSC teacher.

"I was kind of sad because I felt bad for his family," said Sade Howard, 10, whose father is a prison guard at the Philadelphia Industrial Correctional Center.

Officers at the FOP lodge were pleased by the students' actions.

"It was totally unexpected," said Roosevelt Poplar, vice president of the lodge. "These are citizens of the city and they have emotions just as well as we do."

Before they left, the students lined up and, in unison, recited to the police officers:

"Thank you for serving and protecting our community. I'm sorry for your loss." *