Regardless of a county prosecutor's yearlong investigation, nearby resident's believe Phil Seidle received preferential treatment. Watch video
FREEHOLD -- While a yearlong investigation by the Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office found responding police officers could not have prevented an off-duty police sergeant from gunning down his ex-wife in broad daylight last year, those who live on the block where the fatal shooting took place insist that the officers should have done more.
"They just stood there and watched when they should have shot him," said 44-year-old Kim Hampton, who lives on the 1500 block of Sewall Avenue with four of her nine children.
A makeshift memorial for Tamara Seidle, who authorities say was gunned down by her ex-husband Phil Seidle, lies Thursday morning on Sewall Avenue in Asbury Park. (Luke Nozicka | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com) On Thursday morning, the county prosecutor's officer announced its findings of an investigation into how police responded to the June 16, 2015 shooting death of Tamara Wilson-Seidle, which authorities say was carried out by her former husband, Neptune Township police Sgt. Phil Seidle. The incident on Sewall Avenue, officials have said, was fueled by a child custody dispute.
The investigation found there were several reasons on scene officers that day did not shoot Seidle after he shot his estranged wife multiple times, including a state policy that prohibits officers from using deadly force if a person may risk him or herself. At least four individuals could have been in harms way had officers opened fire as well, acting Monmouth County Prosecutor Christopher Gramiccioni said Thursday.
But neighbors have no doubt Seidle received preferential treatment.
Mike Kyles, 40, whose three of five children live on the street where the gunfire occurred, said if the 51-year-old man had not been a police sergeant, he would have been shot like any other citizen.
"He would've been laying in the street if he was like the rest of us," Kyles said, suggesting that officers could have shot the man's legs. "They think we're out here killing each other, but this cop is killing his own family."
A diagram created by the Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office shows the trajectory of the bullets if the first five officers who responded fired their weapons in relation to where civilians, marked by a blue "C," were positioned. (Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office) "He was a ticking time bomb and he blew up right in front of this house," he added, pointing to the makeshift memorial in front of a tree near the street.
Kyles recalled a dramatic scene that day, where officers tried calming down Seidle, who had a police-issued gun to his head.
"We trained you and we love you," Kyles said officers were yelling to Seidle. "Don't do this."
Nikie, a 35-year-old mother of four who declined to give her last name but says she saw the incident from her window, said people watching were yelling at officers to shoot Seidle. When he surrendered, the other officers "started embracing him as if he didn't just killed his wife."
Seidle faces 30 years in prison after pleading guilty in March to aggravated manslaughter and child endangerment. For Hampton, who says some of her children went to school with Seidle's, that isn't enough.
"He should get a million years," Hampton said while tearing up during an interview outside her home Thursday. "She gave you nine beautiful children, so why would you go and do that to her?"
Luke Nozicka may be reached at lnozicka@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @lukenozicka. Find NJ.com on Facebook.