A black man named Eric Lewis allegedly shot and killed a Philadelphia police officer and wounded another on Saturday because they were white, according to a report.
Officer Shane Seiber and his partner had arrived at a West Philadelphia home in response to a neighbor’s 12:50 a.m. 911 call about a man seen with a gun when Lewis walked up behind them, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported.
The officers asked Lewis whether he lived at the house but were met with hostility, as Lewis began yelling and acting aggressively. When the officers moved to check whether he was carrying a firearm, Lewis allegedly opened fire, a law enforcement source told the Inquirer.
According to the source, Lewis kept shooting even after the officers had been wounded, yelling at them that he had told them to get off his porch.
Minutes later, two more officers arrived to find Seiber and his partner, an unnamed 33-year-old, lying unconscious on the ground and bleeding from their wounds.
Seiber, a 10-year veteran of the force, died hours later at age 40 after being shot three times. He is survived by his wife, a 7-year-old son and a 3-year-old daughter, the Inquirer reported.
Lewis then allegedly engaged in a nearly hour-long standoff, continuing to fire at officers from a dark alley behind the home. After he was finally arrested, Lewis blamed the officers for coming onto his porch, according to an arrest report based on interviews with nine officers.
Lewis said he had been across the street when he saw officers arrive and that he shot them after they put their hands on him. According to the report, he said he did so only because they were white.
While speaking with a black female police officer at the hospital, Lewis said that “if it was you that responded we would have just had a conversation,” noting the officers had guns and that he had “every right to defend [himself].”
He also said at the hospital, “Because they were white, they automatically grabbed me,” according to the report, which was shared on social media by conservative commentator Greg Price.
Price posted a portion of the report stating, “He stated if the cops were black he would not have shot him… He was making racist remarks to the white police officers, saying he makes more money than them.” Price also said Seiber was an Air Force veteran.
Lewis has been charged with murder and 10 counts of attempted murder for the wounded officer and the nine officers who were shot at while trying to take him into custody. He also faces charges of disarming a law enforcement officer and carrying a firearm without a license.
Lewis, who is being held without bail, worked for the city’s Water Department. He was convicted in 2012 for carrying a firearm in public, but had no felony convictions that would have barred him from legally owning a gun, according to the Inquirer.
Philadelphia Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel said Seiber “fought valiantly” and asked the community to keep the officer and his family in their prayers.
On Saturday, Democratic Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro ordered flags flown at half-staff in Seiber’s honor, saying law enforcement officers “put their lives on the line every day, running towards danger to keep their fellow Pennsylvanians safe, not knowing if they will return home.”
“We owe them our deepest gratitude,” Shapiro said.
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