SWANSEA, Mass. — A 24-year-old volunteer firefighter and former Marine shot and killed himself Monday night.
Herald News reported that Brandon Leonardo returned home in 2011 after serving a combat tour in Afghanistan. He graduated from the fire academy in July 2014 as a member of Call/Volunteer Firefighter Recruit Training Class No. 49. Before that, he served as a junior member of the Swansea (Mass.) Fire Department.
Christopher Carreiro, who is also a volunteer firefighter and worked with Leonardo, described him as eager and hard-working.
“His service really defined him in a lot of ways,” said Carreiro. “He was very pleasant and said hello to me. There was no indication that anything was wrong. I would never expect this.”
Police said Leonardo killed himself after police officers surrounded his home Monday night while responding to a report that he had shot a firearm during a dispute with an ex-girlfriend. After police officers heard two gunshots, a SWAT team moved in and found Leonardo dead.
“He was a good member of the department,” Fire Chief Peter Burke said.
Chief Burke also said Leonardo left the department in April because of availability conflicts with his schedule.
Carreiro said Leonardo wanted to learn and was always willing to volunteer at fire scenes.
“He was always asking, ‘What can I do to help?’” Carreiro said. “He was very respectful to his senior officers. That’s the kind of firefighter I saw him as.”