DA: Police justified in killing man who ambushed Brackenridge Chief Justin McIntire

The last thing Brackenridge police Chief Justin McIntire ever saw, as shown by video taken from the taser he held in his hand, was the man he’d been chasing — aiming at him with a .40-caliber handgun.

Aaron Swan Jr., dressed in a black T-shirt and jeans after he dumped a tan Nike hoodie that he had been wearing, was hiding behind the corner of a white house trimmed in green, waiting as McIntire approached on the afternoon of Jan. 2.

A still image taken from McIntire’s taser video shows the small, red dot of his taser centered on Swan’s stomach.

But before McIntire — who never unholstered his service weapon that day — could deploy the taser, Swan fired.

The first two shots struck McIntire, 46, in the hand and buttocks, Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen A. Zappala Jr. said during a media briefing Friday morning at the county courthouse. The second two shots, fired from less than 18 inches away as McIntire lay prone, were in the head.

Hours later, Swan, 28, was killed by Pittsburgh police in Homewood.

Swan and two city officers engaged in a gunfight, with the suspect initially firing 21 shots from an automatic weapon before the officers returned fire.

In all, nearly 70 shots were fired over 18 seconds, according to ShotSpotter.

On Friday, Zappala said Swan’s shooting death by Pittsburgh police was justified.

“There’s overwhelming justification for the officers to do what they did,” the prosecutor said. “Chief McIntire was ambushed and murdered.

“I think he demonstrated everything you want an officer to do.”

Zappala spoke for more than an hour, outlining Swan’s background, the investigation into McIntire’s death and the technology used to complete it. He also provided a detailed timeline of the events from Jan. 1-2.

Zappala played body camera footage — taken from Tarentum Officer Jordan Schrecengost, who was wounded, as well as from the Pittsburgh police officers involved in the shootout with Swan; surveillance footage from traffic cameras and security cameras throughout the various crime scenes; still images showing the weapons used; and maps showing Swan’s path of travel.

On Jan. 1, state police attempted to pull over Swan, who was driving a black Honda Civic on Route 28 when he was clocked at 90 mph, Zappala said. When the police pursuit became too risky, the trooper disengaged but got the car’s license plate.

The next afternoon, Zappala said, police learned Swan was the driver. He had three outstanding arrest warrants, in addition to being wanted for fleeing and eluding the day before. The Honda Civic, which was owned by a mechanic, had been given to Swan on Dec. 28 for a test drive. Police believe that when Swan returned the vehicle, he kept the spare key and used that to steal it, Zappala said.

Officers learned Swan frequented Harrison and tracked him to a Sheetz store there using license plate reading cameras.

Swan, who was with another man who police identified but have not charged, fled the Sheetz, abandoned the severely damaged Honda Civic and escaped on foot, Zappala said.

Over the next few hours, officers tracked him. They traced him to outside the Devil Dog Saloon on Sixth Avenue, and security camera footage showed him there arguing with the man he was with before the two separated, Zappala said.

At 4:13 p.m., McIntire had joined officers from Tarentum and Harrison in the search for Swan and spotted him heading between houses on Third Avenue. As McIntire approached, Swan came from behind a house and fired, killing the chief.

Zappala said investigators believe Swan felt pinned in because officers were fanning out from Brackenridge Avenue, and Swan felt he could not go through the rear of the yard.

Swan fled and then encountered Todd Pierce, who was cleaning out his work van in his driveway on Morgan Street.

Although two shots were fired by Swan, Pierce was able to get the gun away from him, Zappala said. So when Schrecengost arrived, Zappala said, he believed Swan was no longer armed.

“He doesn’t realize that there are more guns in play, and as he comes around the corner, Swan jumps out,” Zappala said.

Swan fired, hit Schrecengost and continued to run.

On Pacific Avenue, Zappala recounted, Swan entered a house with an open door, pointed a gun in the face of a woman who lived there and demanded her car.

“He wants their car. He takes the car and tells them if you say anything to the police, give me 10 minutes or I’m going to come back and kill you — or something to that effect,” Zappala said.

The couple gave him 10 minutes and then reported to police that Swan had stolen their Subaru Legacy.

An active search began for that car as Swan drove down Route 28 toward Pittsburgh.

“The police were waiting for him,” Zappala said.

Police were able to track the car into the Heart Court Complex in Homewood. Swan crashed the car on Myrtle Avenue, and the city’s violent crimes and narcotics officers began looking for him, Zappala said.

Two officers spotted Swan heading around a building in Heart Court and followed him, shouting commands.

“They’ve formed a skirmish line,” Zappala said.

The two officers followed Swan and set up behind a fence when Swan started firing an automatic weapon.

The first volley was 21 shots, Zappala said. The officers fired 22 and 23, he said.

Zappala did not say how many times Swan was hit.

One of the officers dislocated his right knee and was injured by shrapnel, Zappala said.

“He’s lucky he’s not dead because, as I said earlier, he’s not in a covered position,” Zappala said.

When police recovered the two bags Swan had been carrying earlier that afternoon, Zappala said, they found five guns. The sixth gun, modified to fire as an automatic, was recovered by Pittsburgh police after Swan was killed.

Several of the guns Swan had were stolen, Zappala said. One of the arrest warrants previously issued for Swan stemmed from Nov. 13, 2021. Police said Swan stole a .22-caliber Glock handgun, a revolver, a hunting rifle, a shotgun and a hunting bow from the vehicle of a nightclub worker on the South Side.

Zappala said that when officers first were trying to find Swan on the afternoon of Jan. 2, he was only wanted on the outstanding warrants for theft, as well as for fleeing and eluding the state trooper the day before.

Therefore, Zappala said, he felt like the officers’ approach that day was appropriate.

“I think it was a really good response,” he said. “At that point, you don’t have a major crime, initially, that was committed.”

Zappala, who gave his briefing in front of McIntire’s wife, Ashley, as well as officers from the departments involved that day, said he believed it was valuable for members of the community to see all of the evidence gathered in the investigation.

“A district attorney has an obligation to talk to the public about matters of significant public importance,” he said. “You have the death of somebody in one of the most revered positions in this community.”

Zappala said he believed the briefing was necessary because he felt he owed it to the people involved and impacted by it, including McIntire’s family and Swan’s.

“There’s too much violence in the community. If you’re going to direct violence at a police officer, these are ladies and gentlemen who have been trained to return deadly force with deadly force,” he said. “I’m just afraid that with the escalation of violence, and they’re directing it toward the police, that this stuff has to stop because these guys are prepared to address it. … We had two deaths.”

Zappala said body camera video, such as that which was played during the news conference, is valuable.

“It keeps both sides of the equation honest,” he said. “You can come to your own conclusion and nobody has to try to convince you.”

Editor’s note: The following is a link to the video and images released on Friday by Zappala. The video contains graphic sounds and imagery, although a portion of the video has no sound. Part of the video shows the events from two perspectives — one from Schrecengost’s body camera and the other from a surveillance camera on the street.

Here is the video.