Slain Philadelphia Police Officer Shane Seiber honored by hundreds at funeral services

Shane Seiber came home from two tours in Iraq wanting one thing: to be a Philadelphia police officer.

Then a letter from the police academy arrived, turning him down.

He crumpled it up and threw it in the trash. But his wife, Lisa, fished it out. She submitted a new application on his behalf. This time, he was accepted.

Seiber was soon working his dream job.

Philadelphia Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel told that story Tuesday at funeral services for Seiber, 40, who joined the force in 2016 and served until Oct. 10, when he was killed in the line of duty.

Hundreds of uniformed officers, including scores from agencies across the state, filled the Cathedral Basilica of SS. Peter and Paul in Center City to mourn Seiber, whom Bethel described as “a man who loved his family, who served this country and this city, who walked into a room and made it better simply by being there.”

Seiber was shot three times on a front porch in West Philadelphia during what police have described as an attack that also left his partner, Officer Hector Rodriguez III, seriously wounded. Seiber “fought for his life for hours,” Bethel said, before succumbing to his injuries at Penn Presbyterian Medical Center.

Rodriguez, who was shot 12 times, was among the officers who gathered inside the cathedral to honor his partner, mourning alongside Seiber’s family, his friends, and officials from all levels of government.

Speaking during a remembrance service that preceded a funeral liturgy, Gov. Josh Shapiro praised Seiber as a selfless team player with an unforgettable, omnipresent smile.

“His life left a real impact, and his spirit will be felt long after this ceremony ends,” Shapiro said.

Born in Trenton, Seiber grew up in Levittown and Langhorne and later moved to Northeast Philadelphia, according to his obituary.

He enlisted in the U.S. Air Force in 2006 and served with the 436th Security Forces at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware, completing two tours in Iraq. Then, in 2016, Seiber joined the Philadelphia Police Department. He graduated from its police academy the next year with a promise to “do my best to make y’all proud” — a vow he posted publicly on his Facebook page.

Seiber worked in the 22nd and 19th Police Districts. And though he died an officer, Bethel announced on Tuesday that Seiber had been posthumously promoted to sergeant. His family would receive the department’s Medal of Honor and a Purple Heart, Bethel said.

Away from the job, Seiber was a beloved husband and father known affectionately as “Colgate” for his near-constant grin, speakers recalled.

Seiber was married to his wife, Lisa, for 11 years. The couple lived in Bensalem with their 7-year-old son and 3-year-old daughter.

“I know that they’re going to survive,” said Seiber’s uncle, Dan Farris. “I know they’re going to do well. Their father’s going to be looking over them from above.”

Mayor Cherelle L. Parker described Seiber as a father who “melted like marshmallows” any time his children wanted anything. She also announced a new annual city internship that will be created in Seiber’s name and will be shaped by his family.

Bethel also addressed Seiber’s two children. “I want [them] to grow up knowing their father was a hero,” he said, “not simply because of how he died, but because of how he chose to live.”

And he shared a photo of Seiber that, Bethel said, he will never forget: It captured Seiber holding both the crumpled rejection letter and his acceptance into Philadelphia’s police academy. “His arms are stretched wide, and he’s smiling from ear to ear,” Bethel described.

“Think about what that photograph represents,” he continued. “In one hand, disappointment. But in the other hand, a dream fulfilled.

“Standing behind that moment was a wife who refused to let her husband give up,” Bethel said. “Lisa believed Shane had something important to offer this world. And, Lisa, you were right.”

The Rev. Gerald Dennis Gill delivered the eulogy, urging attendees to find solace in Seiber’s death through prayer and Scripture.

Gill said Seiber had died a violent and tragic death — a sobering reality but one that had been countered by the beauty and elegance of the words shared by the officer’s loved ones that afternoon. And at times, Gill’s remarks touched on the strange power of the divine.

The evening before the Oct. 10 shooting, Gill said, he was spending time with a group of police officers when a thought occurred to him: The lives of those men and women were fragile, he remembered thinking, particularly when answering the call of duty.

The next day, he said, a police captain called to inform him of Seiber’s death.

Police began exiting the cathedral at 1:30 p.m. as choir singers continued their song. They gathered on South 18th Street, where hundreds of law enforcement officers had waited patiently throughout the service. They stood shoulder to shoulder, some carrying the flag of the nation or the state, others with rifles at their hip. Under a golden October sun, they gazed solemnly at the long, gray hearse that would carry Seiber’s body to its final resting place.

Seiber’s casket was carried out as a band played, bagpipes blaring and snare drums rattling in unison.

The officers stood at attention, their hands raised in salute, while the final police radio call for Seiber played on the loudspeakers: “No response from 1925, Officer Shane Seiber, badge number 7258.”

Seiber’s burial will be private.

Seiber was the fourth Philadelphia police officer to die in the line of duty in the last three years. He was shot shortly before 1 a.m. on the front porch of a home on the 100 block of North 52nd Street, where he and his partner, Rodriguez, had responded to a report of a person with a gun.

Authorities have arrested and charged Eric Lewis, 35, with Seiber’s killing and a slew of related crimes.