The Collegio Pittsburg's student voice since 1916
Alyssa Tyler editor in chief
Pittsburg Police Department released a public statement via their Facebook Page on March 8 detailing the events of March 6 to March 7. Andrew Matthew Swink, a 39-year-old man, was detained and arrested by South 220 St in Pittsburg at approximately 6:30 p.m.
This is not Swinks first interaction with police , he was arrested and booked into Crawford County Jail on Feb. 27 at 3:20 p.m. for a parole violation. Swinks was released on March 2 at 10:48 a.m.
The arrest of Swink came approximately 17 hours after Swinks first interaction with the police.
“On March 6, 2023, at approximately 11:58 p.m., officers with the Pittsburg Police Department were called to the 100 block of West 23rd St. in reference to a suspect identified as, 39-year-old Aaron Matthew Swink, of Pittsburg, shooting the windows out of a vehicle at that location. Swink fled the area prior to the officers arriving. Officers collected statements and evidence from the scene and began actively looking for Swink,” the report stated.
Two separate calls came through in a fifteen-minute time period, from 1:00 a.m. to 1:15 a.m., reporting several gunshots in rapid succession.
“One of the calls described the shots in the area around the 900–1100 blocks of West 4th Street. Officers were unable to identify the source or exact location of the shots at the time of the initial calls,” the report stated.
Both the Pittsburg Police Department and the Crawford County Sherifs Office located Swink in the Garden of Memories Cemetery at approximately 1:30 a.m. Swink engaged in gunfire with the officers and deputies, but no injuries were reported.
“At approximately 5:40 a.m., the Crawford County Sheriff’s Office and the Pittsburg Police Department became involved in a vehicle pursuit with Swink, which began from the Garden of Memories Cemetery and continued through Pittsburg, ending just south of Pittsburg city limits, when Swink’s vehicle was disabled by law enforcement, and he fled the vehicle on foot. At that time, a large-scale hunt for Swink ensued,” the report stated.
Students’ faculty and staff at Pittsburg State University received a text message from RAVE, PSU’s emergency alert system. The first message came at 7:42 a.m., reporting that there has been a gunman and that law enforcement officials are looking South of the city near South Rouse and 520th St.
“On March 7, 2023, just after 8:00 a.m., employees of the Probation and Parole Office, located at 1008 W. 4th Street, reported arriving to work and finding several bullet holes through the front glass of the building. Police responded to this location and collected evidence. Investigation into this incident revealed that Aaron Swink is currently on parole and supervised through the Pittsburg office. He is the prime suspect in this incident,” the report stated.
Swink has been detained and is reportedly in Crawford County Jail, although he is not on the public inmate roster. And his charges have not been posted as of March 9.