Thousands of Officers Fill a Philadelphia Cathedral as Slain Officer Shane Seiber Is Promoted to Sergeant

Philadelphia buried Officer Shane Seiber on Tuesday, and the department gave him one last promotion.

Police Commissioner Kevin J. Bethel announced during the funeral at the Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul that Seiber had been promoted after his death to the rank of sergeant, Fox News reports. Thousands of officers from Pennsylvania and other states traveled to the city for the service.

Who he was. Seiber spent 10 years with the Philadelphia department. Before that he served a decade in the Air Force and deployed for two tours in Iraq. He is survived by his wife, Lisa, and their children, Finn, 7, and Emily, 3. Mayor Cherelle Parker called him "a giant of a man" and "clearly a gentleman of the first class," and said the city will start an annual public-service internship program in his name.

What happened. Seiber was shot and killed on October 10. Prosecutors say he and his partner went to a West Philadelphia home after a report of a man waving a gun. A man named Eric Lewis allegedly came up behind them and asked what they were doing on his doorstep. An argument and a struggle followed, and prosecutors say Lewis opened fire, hitting Seiber three times and his partner 12 times. Fox identifies the partner as Officer Hector Rodriguez III, 33, a father of five, who survived. Lewis was arrested after a standoff with SWAT officers. He was allegedly carrying two handguns, one of which belonged to the officers, and a shotgun.

The prior case. Lewis, 35, had been acquitted at trial in an earlier murder case, Fox reports. District Attorney Larry Krasner blamed a "deeply flawed" investigation for that result. Separately, we have reported that the Justice Department sent grand jury subpoenas to Krasner's office; that is a different matter.