Fallen McKeesport officer remembered for passion, as outside law enforcement steps in

Fallen McKeesport police Officer Sean Sluganski was remembered Tuesday for his passion and personality as the community mourned what Mayor Michael Cherepko described as “an extremely tragic loss.”

“You could see (Sluganski’s) passion, you could see his personality,” Cherepko said during a news conference outside McKeesport City Hall. “He was charismatic, good with the community and he loved being here in the community. To see a life being taken in a senseless act of violence … is horrific.”

Local, county and state law enforcement agencies are handling the city’s dispatch calls, collaborating to give the city’s 37 full-time officers time to grieve, at least until after Sluganski’s funeral, Cherepko said.

Sluganski, 32, of McKeesport was shot and killed Monday after police said he responded to a 911 call requesting a mental health check of Johnathan Jermia Morris, 31, on the city’s Wilson Avenue. Another city officer, Chuck Thomas, and Morris also were shot in the incident but survived, police said.

Thomas was released from an area hospital later Monday, but Morris remained hospitalized Tuesday afternoon, officials said. Homicide and other charges are pending against him. Funeral arrangements for Sluganski had not been announced as of Tuesday.

“This is an extremely tragic loss to the city of McKeesport, to the community, to the police department — it’s an absolute nightmare,” Cherepko said. “I’m very proud of our police department … in today’s world, there’s probably never a more difficult time to police.”

Cherepko, at times visibly shaken and dressed in all black, took time to memorialize Sluganski and wish a speedy recovery to Thomas, who was shot in the face and was recuperating at home after surgery on Monday.

PennWest University criminal justice professor Michael Hummel knew Sluganski in the classroom and on the street.

The two worked together as officers in the Charleroi Regional Police Department for about three years before Sluganski, who had been a part-time officer, went to work in McKeesport in 2020.

Then Sluganski took classes with Hummel at PennWest California.

Sluganski took his last class with Hummel — countering terrorism — online in the fall. Sluganski was working toward a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice with concentrations in homeland and international security, Hummel said.

From his time working with him as an officer, Hummel described Sluganski as a consummate professional.

“He had a special type of leadership and personality that influenced people of all communities to trust him, even in the most difficult of situations,” Hummel said.

Sluganski showed empathy in the field and took the time to listen.

“He was both tough and kindhearted at the same time, and everyone respected him,” Hummel said. “Everyone knows Sean genuinely wanted to help that guy (Morris).”

John Cencich is a senior criminal justice professor at PennWest California. Although he never taught Sluganski, he befriended him on campus.

“He was a young man who was confident, respectful, motivated, intelligent and had a great sense of humor,” Cencich said. “You could see that maturity in his eyes, in his facial expressions and stance. It wasn’t arrogance. It was confidence.”

Sluganski’s fellow officers described him as an adoring father to his young daughter.

He also had a passion for narcotics work, enjoyed playing video games and loved dogs.

Sluganski was a Baldwin High School alumnus, according to Baldwin-Whitehall School District.

“I know that our entire district community will be holding Sean’s memory close as we offer our thoughts, prayers and heartfelt condolences to his family, friends and colleagues at this incredibly difficult time,” Superintendent Randal Lutz wrote in a Facebook post.

A sheriff’s deputy in an unmarked car nudged reporters away from Sluganski’s McKeesport home Tuesday. About 15 miles away in Baldwin, Sluganski’s mother, Terri, described her son as “the love of my life.”

Later, a police procession accompanied the slain officer’s body from the Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office in Pittsburgh’s Strip District to a Brentwood funeral home.

Funeral

• Funeral set for McKeesport police Officer Sean Sluganski

Allegheny County sheriff’s deputies fielding dispatch calls and working out of the McKeesport police station on Lysle Boulevard are being assisted by county and state police, as well as officers from Glassport and Elizabeth, Sheriff Kevin Kraus told the Tribune-Review.

Kraus said he planned to offer “the full support” of his office to McKeesport officers as long as needed.

“This just shows the increasing dangers police officers face,” said Kraus, as he stood near two black wreaths on display to mourn Sluganski’s death at McKeesport police headquarters. “We understand that, no matter how horrific these incidents are, we’re still committed to enforcing the law.”

The scenes of the shootings were eerily quiet Tuesday afternoon. Many residents and business owners did not want to discuss the shooting or give their names to reporters.

Blood remained splattered on the sidewalk in the 1300 block of Grandview Avenue, where Morris is accused of shooting Sluganski and Thomas. Bits of yellow police tape littered the street and still hung on nearby utility poles.

There was no memorial to Sluganski at City Hall, where the city instead decided to display a row of “Support Our Police” signs. The same signs were placed on some of the lawns of Sluganski’s neighbors.

Two separate GoFundMe pages were set up to raise money for Sluganski’s family. As of late Tuesday, between the two of them, they had raised more than $90,000.