By MES Dispatch Staff
The Briefing
- Philadelphia Police Officer Hector Rodriguez III, 33, was released Saturday from Penn Presbyterian Medical Center, two weeks after he was shot 12 times in an Oct. 10 attack in West Philadelphia.
- More than 100 fellow officers saluted Rodriguez, a nine-year department veteran and father of five, as he left the hospital.
- His partner, Officer Shane Sieber, 40, was shot three times and died of his injuries.
- Eric Lewis, 35, is charged with murder, attempted murder and related state crimes, and federal firearm charges were filed against him this week.
- Lewis is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.
PHILADELPHIA — Philadelphia Police Officer Hector Rodriguez III was released from the hospital Saturday, two weeks after he was critically wounded in a shooting that killed his partner, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported.
Rodriguez, 33, was shot 12 times during the Oct. 10 gunfire in West Philadelphia and left Penn Presbyterian Medical Center just after 11 a.m. More than 100 officers, along with hospital staff, applauded and saluted as he exited. First Deputy Commissioner John Stanford said Rodriguez was emotional and placed a hand over his chest as the crowd cheered. Rodriguez left in a police-escorted ambulance for what Stanford described as the next phase of his recovery. “It’s going to be a long road for him,” Stanford said, adding that the department will support him throughout.
Rodriguez and his partner, Officer Shane Sieber, were responding to an early-morning 911 call about a person with a gun when police say Eric Lewis fired on them. Police said Lewis then retreated into an alley behind the property, triggering a standoff with responding officers before he surrendered. Sieber was shot three times and died. Rodriguez left the hospital to attend Sieber’s funeral Tuesday, where Sieber was remembered as a family man.
Lewis, 35, is charged with murder, attempted murder and related state crimes. Authorities filed federal firearm charges against him this week. He is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.
Revelations that Lewis was acquitted in an earlier murder case have stunned the city’s law enforcement community and heightened tensions between police and District Attorney Larry Krasner, according to the Inquirer.
Stanford thanked the public for its support of the department and asked people to keep Rodriguez, Sieber and their families in their prayers.