‘Justin wasn’t ready to die’: Wife of fallen Brackenridge police chief releases statement

ALLEGHENY COUNTY, Pa. — A statement from fallen Brackenridge Police Chief Justin McIntire’s wife, Ashley McIntire, was read after the Allegheny County district attorney released new information about his murder on Friday.

“Jan. 2, 2023 is a day I will never forget,” the statement began.

PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Brackenridge police chief killed, another officer injured in shooting; suspect shot, killed

“It started out as just another typical day, but little did we know, two hours after Justin’s shift started our lives would be changed forever,” it read.

“Being a police wife I know the dangers of the job. I knew there was always a chance he may never come back home. Some say I chose to marry this life, but actually, I chose to marry him, not for this job but for the man he was. I chose him because he was so selfless and caring. He put not only me first, but everyone else before him. But, what I didn’t know is that he actually wouldn’t come back home at the end of his shift that night.

I will never forget watching the officers walk up my sidewalk with tears running down their faces and that feeling of disbelief that overcame me. As my heart broke into a million pieces, I begged them to tell me it wasn’t true because the last thing I wanted to do was walk back through that front door and tell our children that their dad wasn’t ever coming home. Something I pray no other parent will ever have to do.

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Justin wasn’t ready to die. We had plans for tomorrow, next week, next month and for the next 50+ years but those plans were taken from us. They were taken from us because of a coward!

Justin died doing what he loved and I know if he could do it over again he would, just to protect us and his town because that is how selfless of a man he was. He will always be our hero.

Reminding the few of the ill they speak, not only Justin but all of these officers every single day are all that stand between these monsters and the weak. The hate they receive for just doing their job and upholding the law is heartbreaking, yet they don’t think twice and still answer every single call they receive. So the next time you feel the need to speak ill of law enforcement, remember you will need them someday and yet they will still show up and risk their lives and take the chance of losing what they love that’s standing behind them because they are heroes.”

Chief Justin McIntire left behind four children.

District Attorney Stephen Zappala released new information Friday about his murder, including that the chief never drew his gun on the man who allegedly killed him.

Click here to read what we learned from the new information released.

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Target 11: DA, US Attorney to discuss crack down on illegal Glock switches Stephen Zappala said McIntire's shooter, Aaron Swan Jr., had a conversion kit and extended magazine on his handgun that made it fully automatic.

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