PITTSBURGH — A small-town police chief was gunned down Monday afternoon outside Pittsburgh, and the suspect was shot and killed hours later in another exchange of gunfire with law enforcement, authorities said.
Brackenridge Police Chief Justin McIntire and an officer from nearby Tarentum, Pennsylvania, confronted a man who police in Allegheny County had been seeking since he fled a traffic stop the previous night.
The Tarentum officer was shot and wounded. McIntire was shot in the head and died at the scene, officials said.
Hundreds of officers flooded the small borough 20 miles northeast of Pittsburgh, searching for the suspect who police identified as 28-year-old Aaron Lamont Swan Jr.
That massive response shifted by evening as dozens of police cruisers lined Route 28 southbound, lights ablaze, to honor the chief as a procession of officers brought his body from the scene to the Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s office.
Dozens of officers from departments across the county lined 16th Street and Liberty Avenue in the Strip District. The slow, snaking procession arrived at the Penn Avenue office around 9 p.m.
“He’s going to be sorely missed, there’s no doubt about that,” Fire Chief Rick Jones said of McIntire on Monday evening, noting that McIntire grew up in the borough. “It’s going to be a big blow for the borough.”
The medical examiner identified McIntire as the victim early Tuesday morning. An official identification was still pending for Swan as of 6 a.m.
The search for Swan began with much less urgency Sunday night when he fled a traffic stop by Pennsylvania State Police on Route 28, according to Allegheny County Police Superintendent Chris Kearns.
Swan was wanted for allegedly violating the terms of probation he was on in connection with a weapons violation.
On Monday morning, Harrison officers spotted Swan and gave chase. Swan ditched the vehicle and took off on foot again. Police ran into him again around 2 p.m. near the border of Tarentum and Brackenridge, Superintendent Kearns said, and an hourslong foot chase throughout the neighborhood ensued.
Around 4:15 p.m., McIntire and a Tarentum officer confronted Swan, who allegedly opened fire. Superintendent Kearns said there were two shooting scenes: One in the 800 block of Third Street and another a few blocks over on Brackenridge Avenue.
It was unclear Monday night when McIntire was shot. He was pronounced dead at the scene, Superintendent Kearns said.
The Tarentum officer, who authorities did not identify, was shot in the leg. He was in stable condition Monday night.
Swan fled the Brackenridge scene in a Subaru he allegedly carjacked on Pacific Avenue. The occupants of that car were unharmed, police said.
Law enforcement from across Allegheny County and beyond swarmed the area along with multiple SWAT units and other specialized response units.
Pittsburgh police officers familiar with Swan and people he knew saturated parts of Homewood and the East End and spotted the carjacked vehicle around 6:30 p.m. A pursuit ended a short distance away near Columbiana Street, and Swan ran into a nearby wooded area, Superintendent Kearns said.
As officers set up a perimeter, he said, Swan ran from the woods toward a housing complex near Heart Court and Mohler Court. As he did, he allegedly fired at police. Detectives returned fire, fatally wounding him.
Dozens of officers remained at the scene in Homewood late into Monday night.
In Brackenridge, the killing shook residents and prompted the Highlands School District move to remote learning for Tuesday.
As the evening wore on, neighbors lined Morgan Avenue, ready to pay their respects as police officers and first responders transported McIntire’s body from the scene.
Several people gathered along Brackenridge Avenue throughout the night, consoling neighbors and speaking to police officers about the incident.
Alyssa Litwicki, of Natrona Heights had just arrived at Nicholas Gamble’s Brackenridge Avenue home when a neighbor called and said shots had been fired in the alley behind their houses.
“We just heard multiple gunshots,” Gamble said. “It was crazy. So we locked the doors, turned the lights off, closed the curtains. It was pretty scary.”
The duo listened for the police scanner for updates, and at one point saw two officers and a dog run through the yard.
“It’s a shock,” Litwicki said. “It’s right here. You think it wouldn’t happen until it does.”
Gamble noted that the police station, borough building and Salvation Army are all nearby.
“Everyone around here’s super nice,” he said. “I know all the neighbors who live on this street. It’s crazy it happened right on our street, right in our backyard. We heard about the police officer, it’s just terrible. It’s insane. You wouldn’t think it would happen. It’s scary because there’s kids around and stuff. It’s just sad.”
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