Police respond to the scene at Harmonee and Underwood avenues near where Wauwatosa Police Officer Jennifer Lynn Sebena was found dead Monday. Credit: Mike De Sisti

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Wauwatosa - When Jennifer Lynn Sebena didn't respond to her radio early Christmas Eve, dispatchers sent fellow officers to search for the rookie police officer.

Police later made a grisly discovery - Sebena's body, shot numerous times. Her colleagues at the Wauwatosa Police Department launched a homicide investigation to find out who killed Sebena and why.

As of Monday night, Wauwatosa police said no suspects had been arrested in her death. The state Division of Criminal Investigations is handling the case.

"Our hearts are really heavy," said police Lt. Gerald Witkowski. "We just can't believe something like this occurs."

Jennifer Sebena, 30, attended the Milwaukee Area Technical College police academy and joined the force in January 2011. She began as a solo patrol officer with Wauwatosa police in July 2012 and completed probation with the department just last month.

The stunning chain of events began in the early morning hours when Wauwatosa dispatchers attempted to contact Sebena on her late-shift patrol.

"A call had been put out by her dispatchers to send her to a call for service and she didn't respond," Witkowski said. "One of our other officers had talked to her earlier in the evening or seen that vehicle and discovered her."

Witkowski said officers were out looking for Sebena because she "had not responded to her radio." Police declined to say where the shooting occurred, but police tape was stretched across an area at the main fire station on Underwood Ave. By noon Monday, officials said the area had been thoroughly searched and there was no threat to residents.

Authorities said she was shot to death between 3 and 5 a.m. She was believed to be wearing her safety vest at the time she was killed, Witkowski said.

As the department's field training coordinator, Witkowski knew Sebena and attended her graduation from the police academy.

"Great person, great officer," he said. "This unbelievable act has touched everybody at the department."

The circumstances of her death were murky. Officers are expected to call in to a dispatcher any stops or contacts they make such as a traffic stop or a suspicious person.

"That would be the expectation," retired Wauwatosa police Sgt. Tanya Karnick told the Wauwatosa Patch website. "That is the training, and I think anyone from any of the departments around here would tell you that Wauwatosa's training is very, very good."

Karnick was part of the panel that interviewed and hired Sebena.

Karnick told Patch that late-shift Wauwatosa officers frequently use the fire station as a stop for the restrooms or for the office; for instance, as a place to file a report.

Sebena was noted for her personality and clear dedication to service, according to Karnick. She was injured during recruit training school, which delayed her start as a probationary officer.

"She seemed to have a really good, well-rounded personality, and a maturity that was remarkable," Karnick told Patch.

"And she was a caring person. She really wanted to do a good job at law enforcement."

She and her husband, Benjamin G. Sebena, lived on Ranch Road in Menomonee Falls. Their home was cordoned off by police much of Monday.

A neighbor said the Sebenas were a quiet couple who moved in to the neighborhood about four years ago. They didn't have children but had a small bulldog.

"They kept to themselves," said Dick McCarthy, who occasionally saw Benjamin Sebena working in his yard. "All I know is he was an ex-Marine, on disability."

McCarthy saw police officers coming and going from the Sebena home Monday but did not see Benjamin Sebena.

In a video filmed at Elmbrook Church in Brookfield, Benjamin Sebena talked about meeting his future wife while he was stationed overseas on his second tour of Iraq. His unit, 2nd Battalion, 5th Marines, had been part of the invasion force at the start of the Iraq War in 2003 and returned to Iraq in the fall of 2004, when Benjamin Sebena was sent to Ramadi. He was seriously injured in a mortar attack that killed a buddy in February 2005.

How officer met husband

On the video, Benjamin Sebena talks about using the Internet as a release from the violence and carnage in Iraq. A picture on the screen flashes to what looks like a social media site with the image of a 22-year-old woman. Her black hair is pulled back behind a big smile. The name on the screen says Jen.

"On MySpace, I found a girl that I used to go to high school . . . with and she was cute so I sent a little thing like, 'Hey, I'm a Marine. I'm in Iraq. How ya doin?' And she sent back like, 'Ok, I'm good.' So that didn't work, but I'm a Marine, so I kept on trying. So every day we kept on writing each other emails back and forth, if not two or three of them a day. And then Feb. 3 of 2005 happened."

That's the day when he says a friend asked him to step outside for a smoke. He declined, and moments later a mortar round struck and killed Lance Cpl. Richard Clifton of Delaware. Benjamin Sebena suffered deep shrapnel wounds to his shoulder, chest, knee and face. He returned to the United States for treatment. He also continued his courtship.

"We just kept on writing back and forth every day and slowly building our relationship up," he said.

On the mend, Benjamin Sebena left the military and returned to his home state.

"I came back home to Wisconsin and started spending more time with Jen and our love flourished. We became actually infatuated with each other and then one day I asked her if she would be happy to spend the rest of her life with me and she said yes."

They got married and started attending Elmbrook Church and taking classes for young couples.

Churches affected

On Monday as police searched for clues to Jennifer Sebena's slaying, some Wauwatosa churches canceled or changed their Christmas Eve services.

Trinity Episcopal Church, 1717 Church St., canceled the 4 p.m. children's service and Christmas pageant but held a candlelight vigil for the fallen officer later Monday night.

Folks gathered at Trinity at 10 p.m. to light candles, say prayers and sing carols in Sabena's memory.

"It seemed we just couldn't stay inside and just forget that anything happened today," said Pastor Gary Manning.

The group held candles and sang "Silent Night" and recited a prayer for peace outside the church, located a few blocks from where Sebena's body was found.

"It's been a difficult day for everyone in the congregation," said parishioner Laxson Boyd. "The children's pageant was canceled; it was a day of expectation. We wanted to provide an opportunity for people to gather."

Wauwatosa Avenue United Methodist Church, 1529 Wauwatosa Ave., held its two worship services but advised people not to park in the church lots. Parking was disrupted for three services at St. Matthew's Evangelical Lutheran Church, 1615 Wauwatosa Ave.

Among the police departments responding to the scene were Brookfield, Butler, West Allis, Greendale, Shorewood, Menomonee Falls, Glendale, Oak Creek and Cudahy, as well as the Wisconsin State Patrol and the Milwaukee County Sheriff's Department.

"What a tragic day for our community, and our hearts go out to Officer Sebena's family," said Wauwatosa Mayor Kathy Ehley.

Kathleen Gallagher, Jesse Garza and Dan Egan of the Journal Sentinel staff contributed to this report.