Man faces federal charges in fatal shooting of Philadelphia police officer, wounding of second

The man accused of shooting and killing Philadelphia police officer Shane Seiber and wounding officer Hector Rodriguez is facing federal charges.

Federal prosecutors charged Eric Lewis with five counts, including illegally possessing a firearm, stealing Rodriguez's gun and shooting at the officers. Lewis is accused of shooting the officers and firing at nine others on Oct. 10 near 52nd and Arch streets in West Philadelphia.

U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania David Metcalf announced the charges Thursday. A federal grand jury returned an indictment against Lewis, Metcalf said.

Lewis is prohibited from possessing guns because of his prior convictions related to firearms and assault charges, even if they were misdemeanors under state law.

The Philadelphia district attorney has also charged Lewis with murder, attempted murder of a law enforcement officer and other counts for the shooting. 

Metcalf said the federal charges matter even though Lewis also faces state-level prosecution.

"If he was prosecuted under the fullest extent of the law in state criminal or state-level criminal proceedings, or if he wasn't prosecuted at all, we would all be here today," Metcalf said.

If he's convicted of the federal charges, Lewis faces a minimum sentence of 10 years behind bars and as much as life in prison, Metcalf said. 

"They have always been there for us, and today more than ever, we are here for them," Metcalf said of the Philadelphia Police Department.

Seiber, who was also an Air Force veteran, was laid to rest Tuesday. He was posthumously promoted to sergeant at the funeral and received the Philadelphia Police Department's Medal of Honor and Purple Heart.

Rodriguez "survived devastating injuries and continues his recovery," Bethel said.

Bethel said Metcalf called him the night the officers were shot and their teams worked together on the case.

"Today's announcement represents another important step in the pursuit of justice for Sgt. Shane Seiber and officer Hector Rodriguez, two Philadelphia police officers whose lives were forever changed by the violence of that morning," Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel said during a press conference Thursday. 

The shooting has raised questions about police misconduct and a 2019 case in which Lewis was acquitted of murder. Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner has said that was because of a botched investigation by the Philadelphia Police Department.

Asked about that case during Thursday's press conference, Bethel said the officer involved was fired last year.

"We have to walk through all of it. Who did what, and when did they do it? But at the end of the day, we just have to remind ourselves, that is not going to bring Shane back, right?" Bethel said. "It's not going to take Hector on that road, right, and so we have to make sure what is our why, what is our purpose of doing that so we can be better, to make sure that we're doing the things that we're supposed to do effectively so we can make these cases prepared to go, but we'll walk that walk."

In a statement released later Thursday, Krasner said he supports the federal charges against Lewis and looks forward to working with local, state and federal partners in this case.