Thousands of police officers from across the country traveled to Philadelphia on Tuesday to attend the funeral of Officer Shane Seiber, who was shot and killed in the line of duty on Oct. 10.
During the service at the Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul, Philadelphia Police Commissioner Kevin J. Bethel announced that Seiber had been posthumously promoted to the rank of sergeant.
Seiber had served 10 years with the Philadelphia Police Department after a decade in the U.S. Air Force, which included two tours in Iraq. Officers from Pennsylvania and other states filled the cathedral to pay their respects.
Prosecutors say Seiber and his partner were responding to a report of a man waving a gun in West Philadelphia when a man identified as Eric Lewis approached them from behind and asked what they were doing on his doorstep. An argument and a struggle followed, and prosecutors allege Lewis then opened fire, striking Seiber three times and his partner 12 times.
Lewis was arrested following a standoff with SWAT officers. He was allegedly carrying two handguns — one of them taken from the officers — along with a shotgun. He faces 76 charges and has been ordered held without bail.
Seiber’s partner has been identified by FOX 29 Philadelphia as Officer Hector Rodriguez III, a 33-year-old father of five. He survived his injuries.
Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner has said that Lewis, 35, had previously been acquitted at trial in an earlier murder case, which Krasner attributed to a “deeply flawed” investigation.
At the funeral, Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle L. Parker announced the creation of an annual internship program for public service in Seiber’s honor. In her eulogy, she called him “a giant of a man” and “clearly a gentleman of the first class,” and noted his earlier service in the Air Force, including his two deployments to Iraq.
Seiber is survived by his wife, Lisa, and their two children, Finn, 7, and Emily, 3.
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