Just recently, a rookie Oakdale police officer's family was celebrating his achieving his early life goals; now they're mourning his death after his life was suddenly taken.Police say Chuckie Stipetich, 23, was shot and killed while off duty by a road rage driver who followed him from Route 28 to his parents' home in Blawnox and confronted him.Defendant Kevin McSwiggen, 40, of Pittsburgh, faces criminal homicide and reckless endangerment charges. The criminal complaint says that McSwiggen, enraged after a traffic encounter, followed Stipetich to his parents' home, knocked Stipetich's father to the ground and shot the off-duty officer, who returned fire, wounding McSwiggen.Deena Stipetich, mother of the victim, told Pittsburgh's Action News 4, "He wanted to change the world, and he is my hero because he sacrificed himself to save my husband's life."Charles Stipetich, the father of the victim, said, "He told me when he was nine years old he was going to be a Marine, and he accomplished his goal. He told me when he got out of the Marine Corps that he was going to the police academy to become a policeman, and he did. He was a policeman for seven days or eight days."Chuckie Stipetich became a police officer just over a week ago, after graduating IUP's police academy last month following service in the U.S. Marines.At Oakdale Borough's police station, they've placed a blue wreath with black ribbon on the door to mourn him. "We're a brotherhood, first and foremost. So, when you lose someone, it's losing your child. In my case, I'm the chief, so they're my kids. I lose a child," said Police Chief Jim Lauria, who has known the officer's father for years. "When a town like Oakdale loses anyone, especially a young policeman, it damages the town."A GoFundMe page has been set up to help the family pay for Stipetich's funeral expenses. The young officer did not have life insurance."He was a compassionate young man. He was a loving young man. He wanted to change the world, and he didn't get the opportunity to do that. Someone else had to take his life because they couldn't handle road rage,” Deena Stipetich said."My son was a policeman, and he believed in the thin blue line," Charles Stipetich said. "And all I'm going to ask is, the policemen in your areas that watch this, please come to his funeral. It's something that he would have wanted.""My brother was a fantastic person," Branden Stipetich said. "He achieved every goal he had. That was my best friend and he'll never be forgotten. I hope to be half the person he was when I get older."In a court document, Allegheny County police say the off-duty officer's father got between McSwiggen and his son, then McSwiggen pushed the officer's father to the ground. Police say McSwiggen then shot the off-duty officer.Mounted camera video obtained via search warrant from McSwiggen's pickup truck allegedly shows McSwiggen then pointing his weapon at Stipetch's father. The court document says Stipetch then pulled a gun from his waistband and shot McSwiggen.Stipetch later died at Allegheny General Hospital. McSwiggen underwent surgery at UPMC Presbyterian for his gunshot wound. On July 9, McSwiggen was released from the hospital and transported to the Allegheny County Jail. A preliminary hearing for McSwiggen has been set for July 20.