Background
Swasey was born in Boston and grew up in Melrose, Massachusetts.
Swasey was born in Boston and grew up in Melrose, Massachusetts.
He graduated from Melrose High School (1989) in the same class as future Melrose Mayor Robert J. Dolan.
Swasey was shot and killed in the line of duty during the Colorado Springs Planned Parenthood shooting in 2015. Swasey began skating competitively as a youngster in the Boston area under coach Keith Lichtman. Swasey competed with three ice dance partners in his skating career.
With Christine Fowler, he first participated in the 1991 United States. Figure Skating Championships.
They placed 14th in the juniors, prompting them to seek a coaching change. In June of the same year, they moved to Colorado Springs to train with Sandy Hess, a prominent ice dance coach, and the Broadmoor Skating Club.
Assisting Hess as coaches were Renée Roca and Gorsha Sur, who together would become two-time United States. ice dance champions. In 1993, Fowler and Swasey were mentioned by the Boston Globe among the Olympic hopefuls.
However, at the 1993 United States. Figure Skating Championships, their first event as seniors, they finished 15th in a field of 21.
Swasey did not participate in the 1994 United States. Figure Skating Championships. On March 11, the team worked on two Musical on Ice shows at the Forum in Presque Isle, Maine, the hometown of Tompkins. In 2009 he became a University of Colorado Colorado Springs police officer
Results
Swasey was shot dead in the line of duty on November 27, 2015 during a mass shooting at a local Planned Parenthood clinic.
He was 44 years old. Following Swasey"s death, President Barack Obama praised Swasey with "May God bless Officer Garrett Swasey and the Americans he tried to save." Swasey"s former schoolmate, Melrose"s Mayor Dolan, stated at a press conference that, "He made a real mark on the people that he met in this small town. He was so dedicated to his church and his community."
The funeral, with thousands in attendance, took place on December 4 and was streamed live.
Speakers included Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper, Colorado Springs Mayor John Suthers and University of Colorado Colorado Springs Chancellor Pam Shockley-Zalabak.