Western Pennsylvania police officers killed in line of duty since 2008

Monday’s deadly capturing of a McKeesport police officer marks two line-of-duty deaths already this 12 months for regulation enforcement in Western Pennsylvania after greater than a five-year hole.

The McKeesport officer, Sean Sluganski, was killed whereas responding to a request to carry out a verify on a person’s psychological well being. Authorities mentioned that when officers arrived on Wilson Avenue, the suspect walked away from them and opened fireplace once they reached the 1300 block of Grandview Avenue. One other McKeesport officer was shot and wounded. Particulars in regards to the incident are nonetheless unfolding.

The incident comes 5 weeks to the day after Brackenridge police Chief Justin McIntire was gunned down.

Law enforcement officials within the area who misplaced their lives within the line of obligation over the previous 15 years embrace:

Justin McIntire: Authorities mentioned the Brackenridge police chief, an area native who had led his division for 4 years, was ambushed Jan. 2 whereas pursuing Aaron Swan, a convicted felon with an intensive prison document who was the topic of a daylong manhunt for a probation violation. Swan, 28, shot McIntire, 46. He fled and was later killed by police in Pittsburgh in an change of gunfire. A Tarentum police officer concerned within the pursuit, Jordan Schrecengost, was shot within the leg.

Brian Shaw: Shaw, a rookie officer with the New Kensington Police Division, was shot and killed Nov. 17, 2017 throughout a visitors cease. The Decrease Burrell resident was 25. His killer, Rahmael Holt, was convicted and is on loss of life row. Prosecutors mentioned Holt killed Shaw throughout a foot chase after the officer tried to tug over the SUV through which he was a passenger.

Scott Bashioum: A Canonsburg police officer for seven years, Bashioum, 52, was ambushed and fatally shot Nov. 10, 2016 whereas responding to a home dispute round 3:15 a.m. One other officer, James Saieva, was injured. The killer, Michael Cwiklinski, killed his estranged spouse, Dalia Sabae, and her unborn youngster earlier than killing himself. The next 12 months a bridge main into Canonsburg was renamed in Bashioum’s honor, and in 2018, an area submit workplace was rededicated in his title.

Lloyd Reed Jr.: The part-time St. Clair Township police officer was fatally shot Nov. 28, 2015 when he responded to a home violence name in New Florence. Reed, 54, was first on the scene and located suspect Ray Shetler Jr. holding a rifle. Witnesses mentioned Shetler refused to drop the weapon, Reed opened fireplace and Shetler shot again, putting the officer in an space not protected by his bulletproof vest. Shetler, who was shot within the shoulder, claimed self-defense and argued that he didn’t know Reed was a police officer. A jury acquitted him in 2018 of homicide costs.

Richard Champion: The part-time Perryopolis police officer was killed Dec. 14, 2014 throughout a high-speed chase in Perry Township, Fayette County. Champion, 35, of Ligonier, was pursuing a dashing automobile. His police cruiser had its lights and sirens activated when an SUV turned left in entrance of him on Route 51 resulting in a fiery collision.

John David Dryer: A gunman killed the 46-year-old part-time East Washington police officer throughout a visitors cease for an expired registration sticker on Dec. 18, 2011 on Interstate 70 in South Strabane. When police requested the motive force, Eli Franklin Myers III, to step away from the automotive, he shot Dryer within the thigh and one other officer, Robert Caldwell, within the hand. Myers then shot Dryer within the head earlier than driving off. After a 10-hour standoff, police fatally shot the gunman, Eli Franklin Myers III, at his Rostraver house when he emerged armed. Dryer was additionally a veterinarian. His obituary mentioned he grew up on a farm in Avella, labored all through the U.S. as a horse veterinarian and was a State Sport Fee officer.

Derek Kotecki: On Oct. 12, 2011, a fugitive ambushed the Decrease Burrell patrolman within the car parking zone of a Dairy Queen on Greensburg Highway because the officer approached to arrest him for his alleged function in a capturing 10 days earlier. Kotecki, following up on a tip, walked towards a Jeep within the lot when its occupant, Charles Submit, shot the officer twice earlier than killing himself. Kotecki, 40, was a longtime policeman and the division’s Ok-9 handler.

Michael Crawshaw: The Penn Hills officer was shot within the head and the arm when Ronald Robinson sprayed his police automotive with 13 rounds from an AK-47-style assault rifle on Dec. 6, 2009. Moments earlier, police mentioned, Robinson gunned down a person inside a close-by home over a $500 drug debt. Crawshaw, 32, was ready in his automotive for backup when he was attacked. He had been on the job for 2 years. Robinson was convicted and is serving life in jail.

Paul Sciullo, Stephen Mayhle and Eric Kelly: The three Pittsburgh cops have been killed April 4, 2009 by Richard Poplawski throughout a shootout within the metropolis’s Stanton Heights part. Sciullo and Mayhle responded to a 7 a.m. name that morning by Poplawski’s mom asking police to eject her son from the home. Prosecutors mentioned Poplawski killed Sciullo, bought right into a gun battle with Mayhle, then murdered Kelly, who was off-duty however raced to the scene when he heard a name for assistance on the police radio. A Dauphin County jury discovered Poplawski responsible in 2011. He’s on loss of life row.

Sam Hicks: A Westmoreland County native, the FBI agent was shot and killed Nov. 19, 2008 when he and a staff of officers served a drug warrant in Indiana Township. Hicks, 33, breached the entrance door of the house belong to Christina Korbe and her husband, Robert – the warrant’s goal – and was the primary one by means of. Christina Korbe, standing on the second ground, fired a gun down a darkish stairwell, putting Hicks. She claimed that she thought somebody was breaking in, and he or she fired for cover. Korbe pleaded responsible in 2011 to voluntary manslaughter and was sentenced to federal jail. She was launched in June.