Justin Clark McIntire, a 46-year-old White/Caucasian male, died on January 2, 2023, in Brackenridge, Pennsylvania, while serving as the borough’s police chief. He was killed in the line of duty during a manhunt for Aaron Lamont Swan Jr., a 28-year-old man from Duquesne who was wanted on probation-related violations involving weapons and had already fled from police before the fatal encounter.
The chain of events began the night before McIntire was killed, when Pennsylvania State Police
attempted to stop Swan on Route 28 near Cheswick. Swan fled, and by the next day police agencies across the area were searching for him. On January 2, officers encountered him again, and the search moved through Harrison Township, Tarentum, and Brackenridge. What began as an attempt to locate a wanted fugitive turned into a dangerous foot pursuit through a small Allegheny County borough where officers from multiple departments were trying to contain him.
By late afternoon, the search had reached Brackenridge. McIntire was among the officers looking for Swan when the suspect was spotted near the area of Third Street, Brackenridge Avenue, and Morgan Street. Authorities later described McIntire’s death as an ambush. During the pursuit, Swan opened fire. McIntire was struck and killed at the scene. Later reports from the district attorney said McIntire was shot four times at close range, including shots fired while he was already down, and that he never had a chance to draw his weapon.
Another officer, Tarentum Officer Jordan Schrecengost, was also shot during the incident and suffered a gunshot wound to the leg. A third officer was reportedly injured by suspected shrapnel. As police flooded Brackenridge and surrounding communities, Swan escaped the immediate area. Authorities said he carjacked a vehicle and continued fleeing, turning the manhunt into a wider emergency that stretched from the Alle-Kiski Valley into Pittsburgh.
Swan’s flight ended later that evening in Pittsburgh’s Homewood-Brushton neighborhood. Police located him after he crashed the carjacked vehicle. He exchanged gunfire with officers near Brushton Avenue and Mohler Street, and Pittsburgh police shot and killed him. Authorities said multiple firearms were recovered after the events, including weapons found in Brackenridge and in Homewood. Because Swan died during the confrontation with police, there was no arrest, criminal prosecution, trial, or conviction in McIntire’s killing.
Investigators identified Aaron Lamont Swan Jr. as the suspect responsible for killing Chief McIntire and wounding Officer Schrecengost. Public reporting on Swan described a lengthy criminal history, including prior theft and disorderly conduct convictions, a past homicide charge, and later parole or probation violations. At the time police were searching for him, he was wanted in connection with weapons-related supervision violations and fleeing law enforcement.
McIntire’s death deeply affected Brackenridge, a small community where he had long served and where he had become police chief in 2019. His killing happened exactly four years after he was sworn in as chief. He had served the borough for more than two decades, and after his death, officials and residents described him as a dedicated public servant who died trying to protect the community he knew so well. The case closed not with a courtroom outcome, but with the death of the identified gunman only hours after McIntire was killed.
