Thousands honor Philadelphia police officer slain at GameStop store
| Philadelphia
Mourners packed a sports arena for the funeral of a Philadelphia police officer fatally shot while trying to stop a video game store robbery.
Thousands of officers in blue dress uniforms stood silently as Officer Robert Wilson III's family entered the Palestra at the University of Pennsylvania on Saturday. A large sketch at the arena's entrance of the 8-year department veteran was covered in mourners' signatures.
Wilson was killed March 5 at a GameStop store in north Philadelphia. He had stopped for a security check and to buy a game for his son.
Police say the 30-year-old father of two was getting the game to reward his son for good grades and for his 10th birthday, which was Monday.
Two brothers have been charged with murder in Wilson's death.
The Philadelphia City Council honored Wilson on Thursday, a week after he was killed at a GameStop store in North Philadelphia.听
Fraternal Order of Police President John McNesby tells 聽the聽he GameStop retail chain is making a "very large" donation to聽Wilson's聽family and will collect money in stores for a trust fund benefiting the family.
People held a vigil and released white balloons in聽Wilson's聽neighborhood Wednesday night.
Attorney General Eric Holder said this week that the shooting death of a Philadelphia police officer is one of several recent senseless attacks on law enforcement.
Holder mentioned Officer聽Robert聽Wilson聽III's death in a statement Thursday on the wounding of two officers in Ferguson, Missouri.
Holder condemned the attacks and said threats or violence against police officers would never be tolerated.听"Such senseless acts of violence threaten the very reforms that nonviolent protesters in Ferguson and around the country have been working towards," Holder said.
