UPDATE: Who Killed Sgt. Sean Drenth??
ARIZONA REPUBLIC
PHOENIX
Phoenix Police Department/Sgt. Sean DrenthPhoenix police officials continued their intense investigation Tuesday into the shooting death of Sgt. Sean Drenth, whose body was found outside his patrol car south of the state Capitol on Monday night.
Drenth, 34, found near 18th Avenue and Jackson Street, died of an apparent gunshot wound between 10 and 11 p.m. Monday.
Police officials didn't release many details, saying that they had more questions than answers and that they are not ruling anything out.
"We are doing everything humanly possible to find out exactly what occurred," Phoenix Police Chief Jack Harris said.
Drenth, a 12-year veteran with the Police Department, was awarded the Medal of Valor in 2003 for helping rescue people from a burning apartment building. He was married to Colleen Drenth for 13 years.
The Police Department lost contact with Sgt. Drenth less than an hour before the Arizona Capitol Police found his body in an alley near the Union Pacific Railroad tracks.
He was shot in an open area where police officers are known to sit in their cars and work on paperwork and still keep an eye on what is going on.
Sgt. Trent Crump, a Phoenix police spokesman, said that many police vehicles are single-officer units and that Drenth didn't have a partner.
"As the officer, you use your discretion on when you need a backup and what calls you take by yourself," Crump said.
Officials declined to discuss weapons Drenth may have carried or whether there were signs of a struggle.
"We are looking at all of the evidence, and we will run through everything," said Sgt. Steve Martos, who is also a spokesman for the department. "It might be too early to determine."
Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon headed to the area shortly after 11 p.m. and described the scene as somber.
"There were about 30 or 40 officers, and I saw the emptiness and shock in their eyes," Gordon said.
Drenth was the last Phoenix police officer to be promoted to sergeant. The city implemented a freeze on promotions in the department shortly after December 2009 as one of the ways to manage its budget crisis.
Drenth had been working in the South Mountain Precinct for about a week after being transferred from the Squaw Peak Precinct in central and north-central Phoenix.
He requested the move and was among several officers who transferred as part of a citywide shift in precinct boundaries that took effect this summer, Martos said.
Drenth's death is the latest blow to the Police Department, which has faced several high-profile incidents over the past year.
Earlier this month, South Mountain police Officer Richard Chrisman was arrested and charged with second-degree murder in the fatal shooting of 29-year-old Danny Frank Rodriguez while on a domestic-violence call.
This week, Squaw Peak Precinct Officer Sutton Wohlman was arrested on suspicion of aggravated assault in the choking of his girlfriend.
And in March, Michael Johnson, the city's only African-American council member, was pinned to the ground by South Mountain Precinct police Officer Brian Authement, igniting a citywide debate on race relations between police and the south Phoenix minorities.
"It's a difficult time for the Phoenix Police Department for a number of reasons, but we remain focused with the same professionalism and vigor for the job that we had before," Martos said.
Johnson, who represents the area where Drenth's body was found and is a former Phoenix police homicide detective, said it was too early to determine the circumstances of Drenth's death.
"There are just not enough details to elaborate or speculate on anything," Johnson said.
Councilman Claude Mattox, chairman of the City Council Public Safety and Veterans Subcommittee, received a call shortly after 1 a.m. Tuesday alerting him of Drenth's death.
Mattox, who arrived in the area around 1:30 a.m., said officers were told to take advantage of counseling services provided by the city if they needed them.
Drenth's death shows that Phoenix police officers "are out there day and night, literally putting their lives on the line for the residents (of) Phoenix," Mattox said.
Drenth, a 12-year veteran with the Police Department, was awarded the Medal of Valor in 2003 for helping rescue people from a burning apartment building. He was married to Colleen Drenth for 13 years.
The Police Department lost contact with Sgt. Drenth less than an hour before the Arizona Capitol Police found his body in an alley near the Union Pacific Railroad tracks.
He was shot in an open area where police officers are known to sit in their cars and work on paperwork and still keep an eye on what is going on.
Sgt. Trent Crump, a Phoenix police spokesman, said that many police vehicles are single-officer units and that Drenth didn't have a partner.
"As the officer, you use your discretion on when you need a backup and what calls you take by yourself," Crump said.
Officials declined to discuss weapons Drenth may have carried or whether there were signs of a struggle.
"We are looking at all of the evidence, and we will run through everything," said Sgt. Steve Martos, who is also a spokesman for the department. "It might be too early to determine."
Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon headed to the area shortly after 11 p.m. and described the scene as somber.
"There were about 30 or 40 officers, and I saw the emptiness and shock in their eyes," Gordon said.
Drenth was the last Phoenix police officer to be promoted to sergeant. The city implemented a freeze on promotions in the department shortly after December 2009 as one of the ways to manage its budget crisis.
Drenth had been working in the South Mountain Precinct for about a week after being transferred from the Squaw Peak Precinct in central and north-central Phoenix.
He requested the move and was among several officers who transferred as part of a citywide shift in precinct boundaries that took effect this summer, Martos said.
Drenth's death is the latest blow to the Police Department, which has faced several high-profile incidents over the past year.
Earlier this month, South Mountain police Officer Richard Chrisman was arrested and charged with second-degree murder in the fatal shooting of 29-year-old Danny Frank Rodriguez while on a domestic-violence call.
This week, Squaw Peak Precinct Officer Sutton Wohlman was arrested on suspicion of aggravated assault in the choking of his girlfriend.
And in March, Michael Johnson, the city's only African-American council member, was pinned to the ground by South Mountain Precinct police Officer Brian Authement, igniting a citywide debate on race relations between police and the south Phoenix minorities.
"It's a difficult time for the Phoenix Police Department for a number of reasons, but we remain focused with the same professionalism and vigor for the job that we had before," Martos said.
Johnson, who represents the area where Drenth's body was found and is a former Phoenix police homicide detective, said it was too early to determine the circumstances of Drenth's death.
"There are just not enough details to elaborate or speculate on anything," Johnson said.
Councilman Claude Mattox, chairman of the City Council Public Safety and Veterans Subcommittee, received a call shortly after 1 a.m. Tuesday alerting him of Drenth's death.
Mattox, who arrived in the area around 1:30 a.m., said officers were told to take advantage of counseling services provided by the city if they needed them.
Drenth's death shows that Phoenix police officers "are out there day and night, literally putting their lives on the line for the residents (of) Phoenix," Mattox said.
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