http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGAFXE480YC.html
Pressure in Police 'gas Ax' Device Kills Officer During Training
Exercise, Authorities Say
The Associated Press
Published: Feb 22, 2002
PHOENIX (AP) - Pressure in a "gas ax" used by police to break down walls
and subdue suspects may have caused one of the devices to malfunction
and kill an officer during a training exercise, authorities said.
Scottsdale police Sgt. Tom Hontz was killed and 11 other officers
slightly injured Wednesday when the device exploded during the exercise
at two vacant homes in suburban Gilbert, police said.
Authorities issued a nationwide warning to law enforcement agencies
about the device and asked the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and
Firearms to determine the cause.
"The reason the thing exploded is there was too much pressure inside of
it," said Sgt. Jim Lahti, [Ed note: D'oh] a Gilbert police spokesman.
"We are investigating why."
The gas ax is used to make a hole in a wall of a room where a suspect is
barricaded and emits a debilitating gas that gives police a chance to
enter safely. A long metal handle is used to drive a pointed pipe
through a wall. A tear gas or similar chemical cartridge is then
triggered.
Hontz, 45, died a few hours after the explosion. Other officers involved
in the training were treated and released, including one with shrapnel
injuries from flying metal.
