If a police officer is on duty when her husband hunts her down and shoots her to death, did she die in the line of duty?
The people in charge of the National Law Enforcement Officer Memorial have decided not to add Jennifer Sebena ‘s name on its wall.
Sebena, a Wauwatosa, Wisconsin police officer, was killed, allegedly by her husband, who is accused of stalking her and shooting her on Christmas Eve as she worked.
“It’s appalling and a travesty. Apparently the rationale appears to be they have classified Jen Sebena’s murder as a domestic violence incident, and it is completely offensive,” Jim Palmer, Wisconsin Professional Police Association president, tells the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
This afternoon, Wisconsin attorney general J.B. Van Hollen urged reconsideration.
“I strongly disagree that Officer Sebena’s death was not in the line of duty. I strongly disagree with any suggestion that a line of duty death cannot result from an incident of domestic violence,” he wrote in a letter to the CEO of the memorial.