Murder of Lauretha Vaird
Lauretha A. Vaird (August 4, 1952 – January 2, 1996) was a Philadelphia Police Department officer who was shot dead by the rapper Christopher Roney aka "Cool C" during a botched armed bank robbery in January 1996. Roney attempted to rob the bank with another rapper, Warren McGlone aka "Steady B", and another man, Mark Canty. During the robbery, Vaird was mortally wounded by a gunshot wound in the abdomen and died soon after. Vaird was Philadelphia's first female police officer to be shot and killed in the line of duty. Background Vaird was a single mother of two boys. Before she became a police officer, she worked as a teacher's aide at Pickett Middle School in Germantown. She joined the Philadelphia police force in 1986 at the age of 34. Before her death, she was a 9-year veteran with the 25th District. Murder On January 2, 1996, at around 8:20 a.m., "Cool C" and "Steady B", and their accomplice, Canty, attempted to rob a PNC Bank branch in Feltonville, Philadelphia, at 4710 Rising Sun Avenue. The men had stolen a green minivan for the job which was driven by McGlone who acted as the getaway driver. Roney and Canty