Philadelphia police officer killed, suspect arrested after shotgun ambush
Officer Shane Seiber died and a fellow officer was critically injured when a city employee opened fire outside a West Philadelphia home; the shooter, Eric Lewis, was taken into custody and faces murder and attempted-murder charges.
A Philadelphia police officer was fatally shot and another was critically wounded during a shotgun ambush outside a West Philadelphia residence early Saturday. The suspect, identified as city water-department employee Eric Lewis, continued firing at responding officers before being arrested.
Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel said Officer Shane Seiber, a 40-year-old father of two and a 10-year veteran, was hit three times and died at Penn Presbyterian Medical Center shortly after 9 a.m. His colleague, a 33-year-old officer with nine years of service, was shot 12 times and remains hospitalized in stable but uncertain condition.
Bethel described how officers responded to reports of a man with a gun on his porch at the 100 block of North 52nd Street shortly after midnight. As they approached, Lewis opened fire, striking both officers. He then seized a police Glock, fired at additional officers who arrived, and later was found in a tree armed with the shotgun, a handgun and the stolen Glock before being taken into custody.
District Attorney Larry Krasner announced that Lewis shot at nine other officers and faces charges of murder, attempted murder, disarming a law-enforcement officer and related offenses. He will be held without bail pending a preliminary arraignment.
Community leaders gathered at the hospital to mourn Seiber. Bethel, standing with Mayor Cherelle L. Parker, asked for prayers for the fallen officer and his family. > "He fought valiantly, but he lost his life today," Betheld said.
Governor Josh Shapiro ordered flags lowered to half-staff in Seiber’s honor, and Parker called the officer’s sacrifice "noble and courageous." The mayor said her administration would seek to expand involuntary-commitment laws to address severe mental-health and substance-use crises.
Lewis, 35, has a decade-long criminal record but no felony convictions that would have barred firearm ownership. He has worked for the city water department since 2024, earning an annual salary of $47,746. The city workers’ union condemned the violence, stating it does not reflect its values.
Local residents described the shock of the shooting in a neighborhood they described as typically peaceful, emphasizing the broader impact on the community.