Matthew Toth | Lebanon Daily News | March 31, 2023
On March 31, 2022, Lora Lebo kissed her husband, Lt. William Lebo, goodbye as he made his way into work at the Lebanon Police Department. The 40-year police veteran was 30 days from retirement.
Before that day, Lora Lebo never thought about herself as a police wife.
“I would kiss him goodbye, tell him I loved him and tell him to be safe,” she said. “He would always say, ‘Oh it’s Lebanon. Nothing could ever happen here.'”
That evening, she was informed that her husband was shot and killed in the line of duty.
One year later, current and former Lebanon City Police officers filled the Lebanon Valley Rail Trail and walked Lt. William Lebo’s daily route to work Friday morning in remembrance of their fallen colleague and his service to the community.
While officers still face the loss of one of their own, Lebanon Police Chief Bret Fisher said the department is still in a transition.
“There’s a police officer that worked for the department for 37 years that came to work every day Lt. Lebo was here,” he said. “So it’s not an end for him, because for 37 years they were together. I have an officer who was on his fourth day when Lt. Lebo got killed. He’ll bring that to work with him his whole career.”
The department displayed Lt. Lebo’s green and white striped umbrella during the morning remembrances. Fisher said he would put it on the side of the door as he entered the old department, and it remained there after his death. It now normally sits at the front entrance of the department’s new location on Cumberland Street.
“Somebody that spent 40 years at the police department, they’re still with ya,” Fisher said. “There isn’t much you can touch or do that Lt. Lebo didn’t have his hand in somewhere along his career.”
On March 31, 2022, Lebo, Officer Derek Underkoffler, Officer Ryan Adams, and Officer Kris McCarrick responded to a domestic disturbance report. Lebo died in a shootout with a man who had broken into a home on the 1100 block of Forest Street.
Officers Adams and Underkoffler were also injured and underwent emergency surgery that day. Fisher said those officers still have not returned to work.
Lebo’s shooting:DA reveals new details in shooting death of Lebanon Police Lt. William Lebo
Lebo’s funeral:Lebanon City Police Lt. William Lebo remembered as happy husband, mentor to younger cops
At that time, Lora Lebo called for compassion for the man who killed her husband, saying forgiveness, compassion and understanding are values that were important to her husband.
“I believe forgiveness is for the person doing the forgiving,” she said. “It is letting it go, not holding onto that anger and not letting it fester. If I didn’t forgive, I would be obsessed, I would be angry. I would turn into a very bitter soul. That’s not what I want to be, and that’s certainly not who Bill wanted me to be.”
Bill Lebo was the brother-in-law who got along with all the other brother-in-laws. Lora said her husband was famous for picking up the tab for pancake breakfasts and loving the vacations she took care to plan for them. A good “community communicator,” Lt. William Lebo was one to de-escalate tense situations, a skill he would also bring to his family life.
“He was a fantastic officer, a great mentor,” she said. “He loved training his guys, and he was a great family member.”
There is not a day that passes that members of the Lebanon City Police Department share stories about Lt. Bill Lebo, police Capt. Eric Sims said. Most of those stories are met with laughter, followed by a sobering reminder that he is no longer with them.
“He would want us to keep up the good fight, and continue to protect our communities with dignity, honor and respect,” he said.
In a memorial at the Lebanon City Hall Friday morning, Mayor Sherry Capello and Fisher presented Lora Lebo with the medal of honor for her husband’s service and sacrifice. Capello said Lt. Lebo had the loyalty and respect of his fellow officers.
“(Lt. Lebo’s family) is still healing. We are still healing,” Capello said. “We’ll probably never fully heal. How can you?”
In the aftermath of her husband’s death, Lora Lebo said the police department and the community helped with her loss. A “team of cop wives” helped in various ways, including preparing meals and booking hotel rooms ahead of the funeral.
This sense of healing has been symbiotic over the last year between Lebo’s family and the city police department. The Lt. William D. Lebo Memorial Foundation, a non-profit created by Lora to honor her husband’s memory, recently provided $18,000 for a new K9 officer and will provide scholarships to local first responders and their families.
“We’ve all experienced the same tragedy,” she said. “He was part of their day-to-day life, and he was everything to my life. So we’re all getting through this together in different ways. We’re trying to figure out how to move on.”
The organization is working with the department to provide leadership training for city police officers, Lora added. The foundation is also planning another fundraising gala on New Year’s Eve, which was a beloved holiday for the family.
“Our mission is to grow Lebanon, grow our leaders, and grow our future,” she said.
During a memorial Friday afternoon, an armored military-grade Lenco BearCat, called Unit 121 after Lt. Lebo’s badge number, was dedicated in Lebo’s memory to Lebanon County law enforcement. Lebanon County District Attorney Pier Hess Graf said the vehicle allows officers to get into an active gunman barricaded situation safely and allows for rescue of residents in the area.
“What that day taught us from a police standpoint is that we need to be better, and we need to do things differently,” she said in an interview with the Lebanon Daily News. “The unfortunate side of police work is that it’s a dangerous line of work.”
Lt. Lebo’s tragedy does not define his career, his family or the community, Graf said. William Lebo was a mentor to his fellow officers, telling them to be proud of the badge they wore and informing younger officers that “in this line of work, if you do it the right way, you’re going places.”
“Lt. Lebo’s last words to his men before they went into the house that day (was) ‘I’m going to go in first, and I’m going to keep you safe,'” she said at Friday afternoon’s memorial. “Through his sacrifice that day, Lt. Lebo did that.”
Lora Lebo said the community is very supportive of her husband’s legacy, and that she’ll “take all the hugs and prayers” that she can get.
“They tell me Bill stories, and how Bill impacted them personally,” she said. “I’m always surprised that yet another person had a positive experience with Bill.”
To donate or volunteer for the William Lebo Memorial Foundation, visit the organization’s website at ltwdlebo.org.