OutKick Crime Files: Police Chief Killed By Criminal With Extensive Rap Sheet
Brackenridge, Pennsylvania police Chief Justin McIntire was tragically shot and killed earlier this week by a criminal that should never have been allowed on the streets.
The heartbreaking story that has led to both McIntire's death as well as one other office also shot and currently recovering in a Pittsburgh hospital, has spurned outrage at the criminal justice system.
The alleged killer, Aaron Swan's rap sheet reads like a damn novel.
Despite decades of prior arrests that included outstanding warrants, weapons possession and even being charged in ANOTHER HOMICIDE, Swan was out on probation.
Brackenridge Chief of Police Justin McIntire was shot and killed earlier this week. (Allegheny County Sheriff’s Office))
ALLEGED SHOOTER HAD BEEN ARRESTED MULTIPLE TIMES PRIOR
Swan's previous crimes stem all the way back to a 2014 incident where he shot a gun and fled from police. In exchange for pleading guilty so the District Attorney can brag about how many "convictions" they have on their record, Swan was given probation.
Surprise, surprise - just a few months later he was arrested again and charged in the shooting death of someone. However, in return for cooperation Swan struck another plea deal and was sentenced to a lesser time in jail.
You know how this is going to go...
Just two years after being released from prison - Swan was arrested AGAIN for drug sales and given probation AGAIN!
Police say that when Swan shot and killed Chief McIntire this week there were three outstanding warrants for his arrest - including stealing a gun and domestic assault.
Are you mad yet? Because you should be absolutely pissed. To know that someone didn't have to die if the rules and the laws that are already on the books were simply just followed and not manipulated is infuriating.
The community welcomes Chief McIntire after he was shot and killed this week. (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)
DISTRICT ATTORNEYS ARE PUTTING ALL OF US AT RISK
Our criminal justice system is getting us and our officers killed. How many times does this need to be said?
It can no longer be passed off that when tragic incidents like this occur that it was a "mistake" or a "mishap" or an "oversight."
No, these criminals are being repeatedly let go and released across the country and we must hold those that are allowing it to happen - be it the judges, District Attorneys, local mayors or whomever, accountable for their decisions.
If you or I did a bad job at our work, we would be suspended or fired. Why doesn't this rarely ever happen to those whose decisions are LITERALLY putting our lives at danger?
CRIMINALS AREN'T BEING PUNISHED
It is frustrating and pathetic that almost on a weekly basis I am reporting another OutKick Crime Files that our brilliant judges and prosecutors decided to be lenient in their sentencing - that's if the criminal even gets put behind bars in the first place.
Whether it's someone taking a metal baseball bat and clocking some random person at full force on the streets of New York City and being released less than a day later, to a homicide suspect being let out to guess what - commit murder again, it has gone too far.
Every day our brave men and women in law enforcement put their lives on the line. We asked Chief McIntire and his fellow officers to pursue and apprehend Swan. We asked previous law enforcement to do the same thing. And when they did - what happened? The system let Swan out. Only to commit another crime.
They believed that after the 4th, 5th, 6th time he got in trouble with the law - including as I previously mentioned - MURDER RELATED CHARGES, that he would suddenly just "see the light" and "become a good person."
This has to change. We need to bring some damn intelligence back into the system because it is unsustainable and only going to continue to fall apart.
We owe common sense to return to the criminal justice system to Police Chief McIntire and his grieving family. God knows they've earned it.