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Awful news from my birthplace: Philadelphia Police Sgt. Stephen Liczbinski, married father of three who would have turned 40 this weekend, was gunned down by bank robbers armed with assault weapons and dressed head-to-toe in Muslim women’s clothing this weekend.

Cop-hating Bill Ayers sends his condolences–to the two of three robbers who got killed and caught.

There’s one still loose. Maybe Ayers’ university, the U. of Illinois, will give him a tenured teaching position.

Via the Philadelphia Daily News:

The mastermind of the Port Richmond bank robbery was Howard Cain, who was fatally shot by police Saturday while fleeing in a minivan minutes after he fired a once-banned high-powered Chinese assault rifle, killing Sgt. Stephen Liczbinski, police say.

As investigators pieced together how a trio of killers met and plotted the deadly bank robbery, scores of police and FBI agents searched from Philadelphia to Lancaster County for the last suspect, Eric DeShawn Floyd, 34, an escapee from a drug-treatment facility called Adappt, in Reading.

Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey described Floyd as “armed and dangerous” and urged him to turn himself in. Yesterday, Lavon Warner, 38, a onetime sparring partner of former heavyweight champion Evander Holyfield, was held without bail on murder, robbery and related charges after his arrest Saturday. Cain dreamed up the bank robbery, but his prison buddie, Floyd, had the expertise, police said…

…Cain apparently realized he couldn’t hold up a bank where he was known, so he and Floyd donned Muslim women’s clothes – a hijab covering their heads; long dresses, called an abaya; and face veils, called nik-ab – to prevent detection, the source said.

Warner, of Westminster Street near 54th, wore a dreadlock wig and dust mask, the source added. Then, the trio marched into the bank, and Sgt. Liczbinski responded to the bank robbery alarm at 11:26 a.m.

The trio hopped in a blue Jeep Liberty. Hearing flash information about the Jeep, Liczbinski chased the vehicle, which stopped twice before hitting a pole. Cain jumped out and fired the high-powered SKS assault rifle five times at the officer, hitting his left trunk and leaving him in a pool of blood, at Schiller and Almond streets, police said.

Liczbinski’s car had one bullet hole on the driver’s side door.

The Jeep took off. Cain and Warner then switched vehicles and changed clothes, hopping in a Chrysler Town and Country minivan, according to police. Cain was alone, however, when stopped by police on Louden Street near D, where he was killed by police.

At a news conference yesterday, Deputy Police Commissioner William Blackburn said that outside the minivan, police found the 7.62 mm SKS assault rifle, loaded with 25 rounds, which had been used in Liczbinski’s slaying. Five rounds found at the murder scene at Schiller and Almond streetswere consistent with the SKS rifle.

Inside the minivan was a .44-caliber revolver, fully loaded with five live rounds, two sets of Muslim clothing, $38,000 and two GPS tracking systems.

Under a trash can nearby in a common driveway, police recovered a fully loaded .22-caliber revolver and additional clothing linked to the robbery.

The officer’s last words: “Tell my wife I’ll miss her.”

An older man nearby had taken the fallen officer’s radio and was saying, “A police officer is down. He’s shot multiple times. Get an ambulance,” Braun said.

Braun yelled at another neighbor for towels to try to stop the gushing blood. She grabbed four kitchen towels and gave them to those trying to stop the bleeding, she said.

A neighbor tying to help Liczbinski looked up at Braun and said, “His arm is just dangling off.”

Petaccio said he had stayed with Liczbinski talking to him as he tried to save his life. He said Liczbinski had looked at him and said, “I want you to tell my wife I’ll miss her.”

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LGF notes that this isn’t the first time burqas have been used as robbery disguises.

Oh, and don’t worry: The cult of Mumia will be ready to welcome Liczbinski’s killers with open arms.

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Liczbinski’s Officer Down Memorial Page is here.

Donations can be sent to: Stephen Liczbinski Family Memorial Trust Fund, 901 Arch St., Philadelphia, PA 19107.