Glendale
investigators said a retired Phoenix police sergeant killed himself after a
computer from his home was seized during a child pornography investigation.
Glendale
Sgt. Brent Coombs said AOL contacted Glendale police Jan. 9 with information
that a computer from retired Phoenix Police Sgt. Don Casey Jr.'s home had
accessed child pornographic images.
Detectives
seized the computer from the home that morning. Casey was questioned, as were
other adults in the house, Coombs said. However, there was not enough evidence
to make an arrest.
"At
that point, detectives did not have enough cause to arrest anybody,"
Coombs said.
"[It's]
just that things were coming from that particular computer, so further
investigation had to be done," he said.
Investigators
began a forensic analysis on the computer and the hard drive. However, on
Thursday the investigation took a tragic turn.
"Thursday
afternoon about 1 p.m., our police department's dispatch center received a
phone call from a person identifying himself as Don Casey," Coombs said.
During
that call, Casey told dispatchers he was going to kill himself. Police rushed
to the remote scene off New River Road and found Casey dead with an apparent
self-inflicted gunshot wound.
"Unfortunately
when we got there, we found an adult male on the ground, away from a
vehicle," Coombs said.
Investigators
said it could be days, if not weeks before it can be determined who accessed
the child pornography from the home's computer.
A
man who answered the door at Casey's home declined to comment. Casey retired
from Phoenix police in 2005 after more than 20 years at the department.