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Thousands Honor Philly Sergeant in Pouring Rain

Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey and other officer's salute the casket of Sgt. Stephen Liczbinski at the Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul in Philadelphia, Friday, May 9, 2008. (AP)

Sgt. Stephen Liczbinski was mourned and celebrated this afternoon during a funeral Mass at the Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway.

Liczbinski, who would have turned 40 this week, was shot dead Saturday morning as he pursued a trio of armed men who had robbed $40,000 from a Port Richmond bank branch housed in a ShopRite Supermarket.

The nearly two-hour service ended about 2:15 and the funeral procession ended at Resurrection Cemetery in Bensalem, where Sgt. Liczbinski was buried.

Liczbinski’s casket was led out of the cathedral as a block-long wall of officers stood in salute. Pipes and drums played and echoed along the Parkway, and more than two dozen flags fluttered in the wind and rains as family members followed the fallen officer.

During the ceremony, Liczbinski’s son, Matt, addressed the throng, describing his father as “a simple man.” He added, “The only thing he wanted was respect.”

He then asked the congregation to join in a cheer for the Philadelphia Flyers, who will be playing a playoff game tonight. “Let’s go, Flyers, let’s go,” he chanted, as people applauded.

Earlier this afternoon, standing in front of Liczbinski’s casket, Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey delivered the opening words before the Mass commenced.

“Killed in the line of duty, those are six words we never hope to hear,” Ramsey said solemnly before heralding Liczbinski as a hero.

“He’s not a hero because of the way he died,” Ramsey said, “He’s a hero because years ago, he made a decision, he answered the call, he wanted to help others.”

More than 1,500 police, family, and civilian well-wishers packed the Basilica and an adjoining chapel for the funeral Mass.

Outside, standing in wind-whipped rain, hundreds more law enforcement officers watched the service on an jumbo-sized television screen. Others stood under white tents set up in the mud and grass in a park on 18th Street waiting for a chance to pay their last respects.

Mourners from across the country began to arrive at the Cathedral at 7 a.m., braving downpours and darkened skies to participate in the funeral Mass.

As a recording of Elvis Presley singing “My Way” blared from a set of loudspeakers, bagpipers waited in the rain, smoking and straightening their kilts.

Officers from the Allentown Police Department were drenched as they put the finishing touches on their dress uniforms, pulled clothes from the trunks of their cruisers.

the weather matching the melancholy of the moment, many officers contemplated the gravity of the circumstances that brought them to the Cathedral.

“It’s very important that we be here,” said Sgt. Bryant Jeter of the Washington D.C. police.