What we know about the shooting in West Philadelphia that killed a police officer
A Philadelphia police officer was killed and another was wounded Saturday when a man ambushed them outside his West Philadelphia home.
A Philadelphia police officer was killed and another was critically injured Saturday after a man ambushed them outside his West Philadelphia home, according to authorities.
As police approached the home on North 52nd Street, gunfire erupted, striking Officer Shane Seiber multiple times, authorities said. Seiber, a 40-year-old father of two, died from his wounds hours later. His colleague, a 33-year-old man, was shot 12 times and remains hospitalized.
The accused gunman is a city employee.
Here’s what we know so far.
What happened?
Police were called just after midnight about a man with a gun on his porch in the 100 block of North 52nd Street. Officers were dispatched about 30 minutes later, and as they approached, the man opened fire, Police Commissioner Kevin J. Bethel said.
In the moments after shooting the officers, the gunman took one of their weapons, Bethel said. The man then fired at nine additional officers who rushed in, but no one else was struck, according to officials.
The SWAT team responded and secured the area, and the gunman was later located in a tree, armed with the shotgun, a handgun, and the stolen police weapon, Bethel said. He was taken into custody.
» READ MORE: Officer killed, another injured in West Philly shooting
Who was killed and wounded?
Seiber, a 10-year veteran of the force, was shot three times and died at Penn Presbyterian Medical Center shortly after 9 a.m. Saturday, Bethel said.
Seiber was remembered by public officials as a husband and father of two young children, ages 3 and 7, who made a “noble and courageous” decision to become a police officer, Mayor Cherelle L. Parker said.
“He fought valiantly, but he lost his life today,” Bethel said. Seiber’s loved ones were at his side before he died.
The 33-year-old injured officer, who has nine years with the department, was stable Saturday but “not out of the woods yet,” the commissioner said.
His identity has not been made public. The department generally withholds such information in the early stages of an investigation to protect the officer and their family’s privacy.
» READ MORE: Officer slain in West Philadelphia shooting was a father of two and a 10-year veteran of the force
What’s known about the gunman?
District Attorney Larry Krasner identified the suspected gunman as Eric Lewis.
Lewis, 35, faces charges of murder, 10 counts of attempted murder, assault of a law enforcement officer, and a host of additional crimes. At Lewis’ first court appearance overnight Sunday, he was denied bail on the murder charge.
» READ MORE: Eric Lewis charged with murder for fatally shooting Philadelphia police officer Shane Seiber, wounding other officer
City payroll records show that Lewis is a trades helper for the water department.
District Council 33 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, a union representing city workers, said the crimes Lewis is charged with do not represent the union’s standards.
What was the gunman’s mental state?
At a news conference Saturday afternoon, Parker said her administration would seek to expand involuntary commitment laws to cover severe mental health crises and substance use disorders that “interfere with Philadelphia’s ability to keep itself safe.”
It is unclear what prompted the mayor to raise those issues.
Parker did not directly say the shooter exhibited signs of mental illness or substance use, and Krasner declined to answer when asked about that.
Lewis has a criminal history dating back more than a decade, court records show, but no felony convictions that would have prevented him from owning a firearm, Krasner said.
In 2012, he was charged with theft and receiving stolen property. He was later convicted and sentenced to two years’ probation. A judge also ordered Lewis to undergo substance abuse treatment, court records show.
He was arrested again the following year and charged with carrying firearms in public and simple assault, both misdemeanors. He was convicted in 2015 and was sentenced to five years’ probation. A judge ordered Lewis to receive a drug and alcohol assessment and a mental health evaluation.
Toward the end of his supervision, in 2018, he was convicted of disorderly conduct for fighting and was sentenced to a year’s probation, as well as an additional three years of court supervision in the firearms case.
What don’t we know yet?
Officials said police were responding to a report about a man with a gun.
It’s unclear what happened before that.
Staff writers Ellie Rushing, Brett Sholtis, Jesse Bunch, and Jillian Kramer contributed to this report.
