By Jonathan D. Silver
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
CANONSBURG, Pa. — When Slovan Fire Chief Brandon Kriznik learned Thursday that two Canonsburg police officers had been shot, he had a sinking feeling; he knows several of the department’s 17 members.
About a half hour later, he got the news he was dreading — Scott Bashioum, his old friend and mentor, had been killed while responding with a fellow officer to a domestic dispute.
“He was born to help people,” Chief Kriznik said hours after the incident, fondly recalling the married father of four. “He was always meant to serve.”
Officer Bashioum’s death reverberated throughout Canonsburg and surrounding communities, from the fire hall in Slovan to the high school in Burgettstown from which he graduated, from Shelly’s Pike Inn in Houston, where he and his wife, Ashley, were frequent customers, to Canonsburg’s municipal building, where officials lauded him mere hours after his death as an upbeat officer and family man.
“He was good at everything ... a loving husband, a loving father,” said Canonsburg police Chief Alexander Coghill. He said Officer Bashioum, who had been on the force about seven years, had recently come back from a fishing trip with colleagues.
We Send Our Prayers To Canonsburg Borough Police Department For The Loss Of Officer Scott Leslie Bashioum. Thank You For Your Service. pic.twitter.com/nlZO4iRmrD
— Guns & Hoses of NTX (@GunsandHosesTX) November 11, 2016
Possessing a firm handshake and standing about 5-foot-10, the officer — who had recently lost a lot of weight to keep fit and healthy for his children’s sake — almost always smiled. But when he responded to a call, Chief Kriznik said, “He was straight business.”
So it was straight business Thursday when Officer Bashioum, 52, was dispatched to a domestic call at a duplex on Woodcrest Drive about 3:20 a.m. He and Officer Jimmy Saieva arrived in separate cars about. Police said they were shot immediately in what authorities described as an “ambush.”
Officer Bashioum was pronounced dead at Canonsburg Hospital less than an hour later. Officer Saieva was in stable condition at Allegheny General Hospital. After six hours police entered the residence and found the bodies of Dalia Sabae, 28, who had been shot dead by her husband, Michael Cwiklinski, 47, who then killed himself.
The show of support for Cannonsburg Police Officers Scott Bashioum and James Saieva is nothing short of amazing. #prayforcanonsburg pic.twitter.com/snqPzyCB9z
— Aaron Martin (@WPXIAaronMartin) November 11, 2016
Officer Bashioum had volunteered for the Slovan/Smith Township Fire Department since he was 18 years old. He was already a veteran firefighter when Chief Kriznik joined the department. “He taught us a lot of what we’ve known,” Chief Kriznik said. Others said he also taught fellow police officers how to monitor overweight trucks, critically important during the Marcellus shale boom.
Officer Bashioum quickly became a role model for other firefighters. On nights when they were called out at 3 a.m. and covered in ice from the spray of the water, a lot of firefighters complained. But Officer Bashioum never would, the chief said.
On Thursday afternoon a large group of people gathered at Officer Bashioum’s home. Some had brought food. A man standing in a group outside said the family did not wish to speak.
But plenty of others did.
District Judge Jay Weller said he just saw Officer Bashioum last week and recalled him as positive, upbeat and polite.
“I used to call him Cliff Clavin. He was one of those guys with all this minutiae of information,” District Judge Weller said, referring to the trivia-spouting mailman character on the TV show “Cheers.”
“He is a great guy, top to bottom. One of the best people I know inside and out,” District Judge David Mark said. “I can’t imagine what the family is going through.”
Holly Tatano, manager of Shelly’s Pike Inn, said her husband, Angelo, is a cousin of Officer Saieva, and she is a longtime friend of Officer Bashioum’s wife. She said the couple had two sons together and he had two daughters from a previous marriage.
The marquee outside the restaurant was changed Thursday to read: “Scott Bashioum Rest In Peace.”
Copyright 2016 the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette