A Philadelphia police officer was killed and his partner wounded when they were shot multiple times responding to an early morning call in West Philadelphia on Saturday, Philadelphia Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel said. A suspect is in custody.
Officer Shane Seiber, 40, died at the hospital after being shot three times. A husband and father to two young children, Seiber served with the department for 10 years.
Philadelphia police officer killed, another injured after responding to reports of man with a gun
Philadelphia police officer killed, another injured after responding to reports of man with a gun
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“He fought valiantly, but he lost his life today,” Bethel told reporters at a news conference. “Fortunately, his wife was able to be by his side before he passed, as well as his family.”
Seiber’s partner, who the commissioner identified as a 33-year-old father of five, was shot 12 times and underwent surgery. He was in stable condition Saturday, with Bethel adding he is “not out of the woods yet.”
The incident in Philadelphia comes on the heels of a separate shooting in Erie, Pennsylvania, bringing two deadly incidents in quick succession into focus as the nation continues to reckon with the devastating human toll of gun violence.
Just after midnight Saturday, a report of a man with a gun on a porch brought the two officers to the 100 block of North 52nd Street in West Philadelphia, where stretches of brick row houses sit behind short staircases and small yards.
As the officers climbed the steps to a porch enclosed by an iron fence, the gunman opened fire. Police have not said where the suspect was positioned when he began shooting.
At some point during the incident, Bethel said, the gunman took a weapon from one of the wounded officers lying in the entryway.
The gunfire drew more officers to the block. The shooter fired at police as they responded to back up Seiber and his partner, Bethel said. SWAT was dispatched, and officers ultimately located the suspect in a tree.
Police recovered a shotgun and two handguns – including the weapon taken from one of the officers – from the suspect, and the man was taken into custody.
Eric Lewis, 35, is being charged with homicide for Seiber’s killing, Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner said Saturday afternoon. Lewis is facing a host of other charges, including attempted homicide, for allegedly shooting the second officer and shooting at nine additional officers who responded to the scene, Krasner said.
Lewis was previously convicted of criminal offenses including assault, theft and carrying a firearm publicly, The Associated Press reported, citing court records.
Lewis is being held without bail and will be arraigned soon, Krasner said. The suspect did not sustain any serious injuries.
CNN is working to determine whether Lewis has legal representation.
“This is a brutal, senseless, horrific killing,” Krasner said.
More than 300 miles away in Erie, Pennsylvania, police officers on Friday arrived at a home to find nine people shot dead, including two children, a pregnant woman and the suspected shooter, who took his own life. Police said the 45-year-old male gunman was related to seven of the victims.
The shock of the violence has reverberated across The Keystone State.
In response to the shooting in Erie and Saturday’s eruption of gunfire on police, Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker is calling on Gov. Josh Shapiro and the Pennsylvania Office of the Attorney General to work together to expand involuntary commitment laws.
New guidelines would “cover not only severe mental illness but substance use disorder and any kind of mental and/or behavioral challenge that could interfere with Philadelphia’s ability to keep itself safe,” Parker said at a Saturday news conference.
Involuntary commitment laws give authorities the power to require forced psychiatric care for someone in a mental health crisis who poses a danger to themselves or others or who cannot meet their basic survival needs, though different states set vastly different thresholds.
Krasner called it “premature” to comment on whether substance use disorder or mental illness was an aspect of the case.
In the meantime, Pennsylvania officials’ social media feeds have become a running chronicle of shootings in the state, from Philadelphia to Erie.
“We are keeping all those impacted in our thoughts today, and we’re hoping for a full and speedy recovery for the other officer,” Sen. John Fetterman wrote on X.
Shapiro ordered all US and state flags to fly at half-staff in Seiber’s memory.
“Our law enforcement officers are the very best of us,” he wrote.