Brackenridge, McKeesport grieve together over loss of officers

While Brackenridge police were mourning the death of Chief Justin McIntire, McKeesport Officer Sean Sluganski volunteered his time to patrol the tiny borough.

Now, barely a month later, Brackenridge officers are patrolling McKeesport while police there mourn Sluganski’s death.

“He was one of the first volunteers to sign up to cover shifts (here),” Brackenridge Mayor Lindsay Fraser said of Sluganski. “Our officers want to be with the McKeesport community during this time of shared grief. The recent police shootings in McKeesport and Brackenridge are not separate incidents.”

Sluganski was fatally shot Monday while responding to a domestic incident in McKeesport. Also wounded in the same incident was McKeesport Officer Chuck Thomas Jr., who has been released from the hospital and is recovering from his injury.

He, too, volunteered to patrol Brackenridge in the wake of McIntire’s death.

Four weeks after McIntire’s death, Brackenridge police officers — and those from Tarentum and Harrison — are among those patrolling McKeesport while that community grieves.

Tarentum Borough Manager Dwight Boddorf said two of that borough’s officers are patrolling McKeesport, filling shifts for some of the city’s 36 full-time officers.

“We’ll cover as many as they need us to,” Boddorf said, recalling the outpouring of support after McIntire was killed.

He said the Tarentum police station at that time was inundated with a flood of officers “coming in and out all day,” along with donations of meals and water that filled the lobby.

“The officer who lost his life covered a shift here for us,” Boddorf said. “We felt it was important to do what we can for him.

“Given that we were, unfortunately, just in this situation, we didn’t hesitate to offer our help.”

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Tarentum police Chief William Vakulick said he was deeply saddened to hear about the loss of yet another fellow police officer.

“The ultimate sacrifice was made in the line of duty,” Vakulick wrote in a social media post. “We hope all the support from your fellow law enforcement officers will offer a small measure of comfort during this difficult time.”

Natrona resident Beth McCullough said she was “in shock” and left reeling from the latest spate of violence.

“Going to guns is how people handle their disagreements, and it’s ridiculous,” she said. “You feel so helpless. But what can you do to change things?”

McKeesport Mayor Michael Cherepko said his city is thankful for the support from across the region and the country.

“Our police have received an overwhelming amount of support, not only from the McKeesport community, but far beyond,” Cherepko posted to social media. “As mayor, I cannot thank these individuals and organizations enough for their support during this devastating time. It is their words of encouragement that will be with all of our officers as they continue to serve our community in the weeks, months and years to come.”

The mayor reminded everyone to “give serious thought to what (emergency service) families endure while their loved ones are out serving our community — hoping and praying that they never have to deal with what Officer Sluganski’s family experienced yesterday.”

Brackenridge Councilman Dino Lopreiato said the borough is considering ways to continue assisting McKeesport moving forward.

“We will definitely be doing something. I just don’t know what yet,” he said.

Despite having a police department of only three full-timers, Fraser said she would find a way to make scheduling work so Brackenridge officers could patrol McKeesport and volunteer for casket watch until Sluganski’s burial.

“Any time that our officers spend in McKeesport will not affect the current Brackenridge police coverage plan,” she said.

Funeral

• Funeral services set for Officer Sean Sluganski

On Wednesday, Fraser attended a candlelight vigil at McKeesport’s Blue Top pavilion in Renziehausen Park.

It was all-too-similar to the service held in Brackenridge Memorial Park, where mourners gathered to honor McIntire. It was a comfort, Fraser said, when so many friends and strangers gathered in her borough.

“The loss of Chief McIntire is so fresh that I don’t have any words of wisdom or perspective that the passage of time can sometimes offer,” Fraser said. “I can only pay forward the condolences, sympathies and hopes for healing and comfort that so many others have poured into us, which has brought us a sense of comfort during such a senseless tragedy.”