Just days after Lt. William Lebo was fatally shot while responding to a domestic disturbance call in the northern part of the city, his widow Lora Lebo has taken to Facebook offering forgiveness and compassion to the perpetrator, while asking that media focus on Lt. Lebo’s life well-lived.
“Our families are overwhelmed with the outpouring of love, support, and common grief for the loss of my Husband and Corinne’s Dad, Lieutenant William Lebo,” wrote Lora Lebo in a post on Sunday, April 3. “We are comforted by the presence of his fellow officers, who have selflessly stood watch to comfort us, keep us safe, tell ‘Bill stories’ and let us know that we are not alone.”
Read More: Solemn motorcade carries fallen cop home
Lora Lebo said that forgiveness, compassion, and understanding were values important to her husband, as well as all other officers.
“I am choosing to forgive the perpetrator in this incident and offering my condolences to his family,” she wrote in the Facbeook post. “I ask that the community do the same. They didn’t ask for this incident any more than I did.”
In the Facebook post, Lora Lebo asked that media focus on the fallen instead of the perpetrator of the crime, and that his image not be used in favor of using her husband’s photo.
In the immediate aftermath of the northside shooting on Thursday, March 31, which left Lebo dead and two other Lebanon City officers wounded, many local media outlets used booking photos of assailant Travis Shaud in their coverage.
“I’m requesting that his image be replaced with that of my husband and that we remember a life well-lived and not simply how he died,” wrote Lebo. “THIS is my husband. This is how I hold him in my heart.”
Questions about this story? Suggestions for a future LebTown article? Reach our newsroom using this contact form and we’ll do our best to get back to you.
Free news isn’t cheap. If you value the journalism LebTown provides to the community, then help us make it sustainable by becoming a champion of local news. You can unlock additional coverage for the community by supporting our work with a one-time contribution, or joining as a monthly or annual member. You can cancel anytime.
