At 6 o’clock this morning, while most of Philadelphia was still asleep, a horse-drawn carriage turned onto Broad Street carrying Shane Seiber home.
The Philadelphia Police and Fire Pipes and Drums led the way. Hundreds of officers marched behind the carriage. Transit police lined Broad Street and saluted as it passed, the bagpipes echoing off the downtown buildings, and at the Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul the casket was carried up the steps and through the doors. Mayor Cherelle Parker and Commissioner Kevin Bethel walked with the escort. Ten days after an ambush in West Philadelphia took him, Philadelphia is laying its officer to rest.
We’ve followed Officer Seiber’s story since the night he was taken, and today the story ends where it should — with who he was.
Shane Seiber was 40 years old, a 10-year veteran of the Philadelphia Police Department. Before the badge, he wore another uniform: a combat veteran who served multiple tours in Iraq, and an airman once stationed at Dover Air Force Base, right here in Delaware. He lived in Bensalem with his wife Lisa, a teacher, and their two kids — Finn, 7, and Emily, 3. The officers who worked beside him called him “Colgate,” because of the big smile. That is the man in the carriage this morning: a soldier, an airman, a cop, a husband, and a dad of two little kids, in that order and all at once.
His partner tells the other half of that night’s story. Officer Hector Rodriguez was shot twelve times in the same ambush — and last week he was on his feet and walking, with Commissioner Bethel saying he is doing extremely well. Rodriguez’s recovery is the one light in this, and it is a bright one.
Here is today, for everyone who wants to stand with them, in person or from home. A public viewing runs from 8:00 to 10:30 this morning at the Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul, 1723 Race Street. A Remembrance and Reflection service follows at about 11:15, with the funeral liturgy right after, full police honors and a flyover, and then a private burial for the family. Last night, officers and family gathered in Northeast Philadelphia for a Commander’s March and viewing. If you can’t be in Center City, the services are streaming live at vimeo.com/event/6276839 — a whole region can be in that cathedral this morning without leaving the house.
The man charged in Officer Seiber’s killing, Eric Lewis, 35, sits in custody facing 76 charges, with a preliminary hearing set for October 26. That’s one line, because today is not his day. Today belongs to the carriage on Broad Street.
He served this country in Iraq. He served it again at Dover. He served Philadelphia for ten years, and on October 10 he answered a call in West Philadelphia and didn’t come home. Finn is seven. Emily is three. When they’re grown, they’ll ask what their father was — and the answer rolled down Broad Street at dawn this morning, behind bagpipes, carried by hundreds of the people who stood where he stood.
Rest easy, Officer Seiber. Philadelphia — and Delaware — have the watch now.
Brought to you by Team Murphy Media.
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