Baldwin dek hockey rink renamed in honor of fallen McKeesport police officer Sean Sluganski
BALDWIN, Pa. (KDKA) -- A dek hockey rink in Baldwin was renamed in honor of fallen McKeesport police officer Sean Sluganski.
Elm Leaf Park's dek hockey rink was renamed Slug's Deck during a dedication ceremony on Wednesday.
"Sean would absolutely adore this," his mother, Terri Sluganski, said. "Naturally, I wish with all my heart he was standing here next to me. So six months seems like yesterday still."
The fallen McKeesport office was shot and killed while responding to a call in February. On Wednesday, his family gathered at a place where he was born and raised. He loved playing roller hockey with his friends.
"We played roller hockey at Paynter Elementary at St. Albert's parking lot," friend Tom Higgins said.
"The physicality of it, skating, playing, being with your friends, talking smack on each other. It was a good time," friend Jesse Duerr said.
His loved ones remembered him as someone with a great sense of humor who loved being a police officer.
"We are still grieving," McKeesport Police Chief Adam Alfer said. "We are day by day. That's the best I can tell you. We are hurting. We are still hurting, and we are going to hurt forever."
This is what Sluganski's family and friends hope people remember and know when they step onto the rink.
"I hope that they have fun. I really do. He was such a fun kid. He always had fun. He was always laughing," Sluganski's sister, Sarah Griener, said.
"I hope they remember just how Sean was because it was nothing but good relationships for each other," his mother said.
Sean's mom said she just finished chemotherapy. What gets her through is her two daughters and grandchildren. The biggest advice she wants people to remember is to have fun and laugh.
Officer Charles Thomas, who was also shot on the day Sluganski was killed, is still not back on the force.