State FOP recognizes four police officers for bravery in Canonsburg shooting
Courtesy of Bob Ware
From left, Cecil police Sgt. John Holt, Canonsburg police Officer James Saieva and Peters Township police Sgt. Matt Collins are shown with the state Fraternal Order of Police valor awards they received for their actions in an incident in 2016 in which a Canonsburg police officer and a pregnant woman were killed. Saieva was wounded in the incident.
Courtesy of Bob Ware
Canonsburg police Sgt. Don Cross poses with the state Fraternal Order of Police valor award he received for his actions at the scene of a 2016 incident in which a Canonsburg police officer and a pregnant woman were killed.
The state Fraternal Order of Police presented its valor award to two Canonsburg police officers and officers from Cecil Township and Peters Township for their bravery in a 2016 shooting that killed a comrade, as well as a woman and her unborn child.
Sgt. Don Cross and Officer James Saieva from Canonsburg, Cecil police Sgt. John Holt and Peters police Sgt. Matt Collins were recognized last week during the FOP’s biennial conference in Harrisburg. Saieva, Holt and Collins attended the conference to receive their awards. Cross was unable to attend and received his award during an FOP Lodge 22 meeting the following day.
Officer Scott Bashioum was killed during an ambush Nov. 10, 2016, while responding to a domestic call to 120 Woodcrest Drive. Twenty-eight-year-old Dalia Sabae, who was three months pregnant with her son, also was shot and killed by her estranged husband, Michael Cwiklinski. The 47-year-old Cwiklinski took his own life.
The local lodge nominated the four for the award, said Bob Ware, a retired Cecil police lieutenant and detective who is the lodge’s delegate to the state and federal FOP. He said this is the first conference to be held since the shooting.
Bashioum was shot twice as he approached the residence, but was able to return fire with multiple rounds, hitting in around the window from which Cwiklinski was shooting. Saieva was shot as he got out of the vehicle. The shot, which hit him in the side, also disabled his weapon, but he was able to alert Cross that shots had been fired. Bashioum’s actions are believed to have saved Saieva from getting shot a second time, according to the nomination sent to the state organization.
Cross arrived and saw Bashioum on the ground. As Cwiklinski continued to shoot at officers and a vehicle he had rigged as a bomb, Cross was able to drive his cruiser through the line of fire to get close to Bashioum and drag him partially inside the vehicle.
Collins and Holt arrived, assisting in getting Bashioum in the cruiser and remove him from the scene to a position of safety. After Bashioum was taken to waiting emergency medical personnel, Cross was able to drive another cruiser to rescue Saieva as Holt and Collins provided cover.
Bashioum died a short time later at Canonsburg Hospital. Saieva was taken to a Pittsburgh hospital, where he underwent surgeries for his injuries. He has since returned to work.