Vos Iz NeiasPhiladelphia Police Officer Shane Seiber Killed, Partner Wounded in West Philadelphia Porch Ambush
PHILADELPHIA (VINnews) — A Philadelphia police officer was killed and his partner was seriously wounded early Saturday after they were ambushed with heavy gunfire while responding to a report of an armed man on a porch in West Philadelphia, authorities said.
Officer Shane Seiber, 40, a 10-year veteran assigned to the 19th District, was shot three times and later died at Penn Presbyterian Medical Center, Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel said at a news conference. Seiber was a husband and the father of a 7-year-old son and a 3-year-old daughter. His wife and other family members were able to be at his side before he died, Bethel said.
His 33-year-old partner, a father of five with about nine years on the force, was shot 12 times. The officer was in stable condition Saturday but “not out of the woods,” Bethel said. Both officers underwent surgery after being taken to the hospital.
Officers were called shortly after midnight to the 100 block of North 52nd Street for a report of a man with a gun on a porch. When Seiber and his partner arrived and stepped onto the porch, they came under significant gunfire, officials said. The suspect continued firing at additional responding officers — reportedly shooting at nine more — before a SWAT team located him hiding in a tree and took him into custody.
Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner identified the suspect as 35-year-old Eric Lewis and said he faces charges including murder, homicide of a law enforcement officer, and attempted homicide of a law enforcement officer in connection with the shooting of Seiber and his partner, as well as charges related to firing at other officers. Lewis has been described as an employee of the Philadelphia Water Department.
Mayor Cherelle Parker called Seiber a “servant leader” who “paid the ultimate price while sacrificing his own life to protect and serve our city,” leaving behind a wife and two young children. Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro ordered flags flown at half-staff in Seiber’s honor.
Police recovered multiple firearms at the scene, including one taken from one of the wounded officers, according to Bethel. The incident remains under investigation.