Sergeant Thomas Alan Hontz
Scottsdale Police Department
Arizona
End of Watch: Wednesday, February 20, 2002

Biographical Info
Age: 45
Tour of Duty: 24 years
Badge Number: 273

Incident Details
Cause of Death: Training accident
Date of Incident: Wednesday, February 20, 2002
Weapon Used: Not available
Suspect Info: Not available

Sergeant Thomas Hontz was killed following a training exercise when a piece of equipment exploded at about 1700 hours.

He was conducting SWAT exercises at two vacant homes when a device used to puncture a wall and pump tear gas into a room exploded. 14 other officers and firefighters from several agencies were injured as a result of the explosion.

Sergeant Hontz had been employed with the Scottsdale Police Department for 24 years, and was one of the officers responsible for the creation of the agency's SWAT team.

He is survived by his wife and three sons.