BRACKENRIDGE, Pa. — Police said Aaron Lamont Swan Jr. was the suspect in a fatal shooting that left a police chief dead and another injured in Brackenridge.
According to police, Swan was from Duquesne, but was known to frequent the Penn Hills area.
On the night of Sunday, Jan. 1, state police conducted a traffic stop on Swan on Route 28 near Cheswick. He was wanted on probation violations involving weapons.
Monday morning, Harrison Township police engaged in a vehicle pursuit with Swan, and he fled on foot.
At around 2 p.m. on Monday, officers encountered Swan near the border of Brackenridge and Tarentum in a foot pursuit.
The chase lasted for several hours through different neighborhoods before two separate shootings, one in the 800 block of Third Street and another on Brackenridge Avenue. Officers were shot in both shootings. The Brackenridge police chief, Justin McIntire, was shot and killed. Investigators believe McIntire was ambushed.
The surviving officer was shot in the leg and is listed in stable condition.
Swan was shot and killed by police after a chase through the city of Pittsburgh that ended with a car crash and him fleeing into the woods. He had an exchange of gunfire before he was shot, according to officials.
Swan was no stranger to police throughout the region with an extensive, violent, criminal record. Many folks in law enforcement and in the community say they feel Swan should have never been out on the streets to begin with. Allegheny County Police say they understand why people might feel that way but out local law enforcement officers show up, protect and serve no matter what.
“I can tell you law enforcement officers go out and do their job everyday regardless of the outcome of judicial proceedings,” Assistant Superintendent of Allegheny County Police, Victor Joseph tells Channel 11.
In 2014 when Aaron Swan Jr. was 19-years-old, police arrested and charged him with shooting at Pittsburgh Police. Police chased Swan, who was armed, in East Liberty, before Swan broke a window of a nursing home, jumped inside and hid out. K9s were sent in and when Swan came out on a stretcher with dog bites. He pleaded guilty and later violated probation. Just a few months before that, Swan was involved in an armed robbery. He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 731 days in jail.
In November of 2021, Swan was charged with stealing four guns and a bow out of car in the South Side. The ATF is now investigating whether any of those stolen guns were used in the deadly ambush of Brackenridge’s police chief.
Our legal analyst, Blaine Jones talked about what some are calling a light sentence for Swan for previous crimes including when he shot at police in 2014.
“That’s pretty much standard based on the guidelines,” Jones tells Channel 11. “It based on an advisory sentence based on negotiations by the District Attorney’s Office and defense counsel. It is the cold reality of how the criminal justice system works.”
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