Arizona Republic from Phoenix, Arizona • Page 2

A2 The Arizona Republic Thursday, September 5, 1991 Sniper Mils 29 himself in rampage SNIPER, from page A 1 Jane Finney, 40, a visitor to Phoenix from Thorp, who happened to be riding by on a friend's bicycle. The first police officer on the scene, 1 9-year-veteran Leonard Kolodziej, Leonard Kolodziej The 19-year veteran of the police force was killed before he even got out of his car. Michael Wheelis The police officer was shot in the leg, apparently as he scrambled for his car. Ji? Ttfo iMfffcB "MfTr 6 I i I yH. officer dropped to the pavement.

Hoskins said it looked as though the officer, apparently Wheelis, had been hit in the leg. Kolodziej had been the first officer to arrive on the scene, in response to a "91 1" emergency call of "shots fired." He was met with a "barrage of gunfire" from inside the house, according to Sgt. Kevin Robinson, Phoenix police spokesman. Kolodziej was shot several times, including once in the face. Robinson said he was killed instantly.

Wheelis arrived moments later. A veteran homicide detective, he had was killed minutes later, before he could even get out of his car. Officer Michael Wheelis and four others were wounded in the next few minutes as Kaiser kept firing from inside his house. The injured included Lloyd Fish, 24; Jose Barraza, 21; and Ceazar Martinez, 37, police said. Other victims have not been identified.

The incident ended at 4:44 p.m. when officers stormed the house and found Kaiser shot dead. Phoenix Mayor Paul Johnson said he was told that the Police Department's SWAT team blew a hole in the side of the house and stormed in. Kaiser had told police negotiators that he had a hostage and had wired explosives to a door. Johnson said police were pretty sure that the suspect was dead because they heard a muffled noise that may have been a gunshot over a telephone that they were using to negotiate with him.

Officers nearby, though, did not hear a gunshot, he said. 'We heard an explosion' The mayor said he heard the conclusion of the drama. "We heard an explosion, but no shots," Johnson said. "That's when we knew it was all over." Police say they have no idea why Kaiser emerged from his house about 11:30 a.m. and began shooting, starting with a 10-man construction crew working up the street.

Three police cars arrived in quick succession, and each came under withering fire from the gunman, who Jiad retreated into the house. Kolod-feiej was killed instantly, Wheelis was wounded, and another officer and two police trainees were pinned down behind a wall in front of the house. The exact sequence of events remains unclear. Frank Marin, 35, and Joe Barraza, 21, were driving a tractor backhoe on 20th Street when they heard what they thought were exploding fire Mary Annette PemberThe Arizona Republic Police swarm a Phoenix neighborhood as paramedics tend to a wounded victim. Police say they have no idea why Barry W.

Kaiser began a lethal shooting spree. -4 i Gunman's wife filed for divorce just 1 month ago asked to be returned to patrol so he could attend college, police said. Wheelis didn't realize that Kolodziej was already down, so he got out of the car and began to approach the house. But the gunman let loose again, hitting Wheelis in the leg, apparently as the officer scrambled for his car. Officer John McKterin, with police trainees Shawn Willbanks and Paul Wallace, arrived next, only to be pinned down as the gunman kept up a steady barrage from a window in the house.

McKterin jumped out of the car, apparently hoping to help the wounded officers. He ordered the trainees to stay in the car. 'We hit the ground' But the gunman then turned his fire on the car, sending the two trainees scrambling for the shelter of a 3-foot-high retaining wall in front of the house. "We ran and got of the car, and two shots went over our heads; that's when we hit the ground," said Wallace, who is scheduled to enter the police academy Sept. 24.

Barry W. Kaiser The former instructor had been served with divorce papers a month ago. crackers. They were part of a 10-man crew from Nesbitt Contracting Co. installing wheelchair ramps in a curb at 20th Street and Turney Avenue.

Tammy VrettosThe Arizona Republic A police officer comforts a child rescued from a home near where a gunman was holed up. The child, a sibling and their mother hid in a closet in their home. 1 he trainees spent the next two hours pinned down with McKterin, as the gunman continued shooting sporadically from the window. By now, an "officer down" call had gone o.ut over the police radio. Police cars converged on the scene, together with a police helicopter.

They quickly cordoned off the neighborhood and began evacuating about three dozen of the closest homes, taking the evacuees to a nearby school, where the Red Cross offered refreshments and the services of two teams of counselors. By Brent Whiting The Arizona Republic Barry W. Kaiser, a former instructor at' a Phoenix trade school, died Wednesday a day before his 36th birthday and a month after his wife had filed for divorce. Police said he took his own life after a five-hour rampage. Sgt.

Kevin Robinson, Police Department spokesman, said police theorize that a domestic situation sparked Wednesday's tragic episode because Kaiser apparently had been served with divorce papers in the past month and had been forced from his house recently. Interim Police Chief Dennis Garrett said Wednesday night that police "have been investigating incidents involving Kaiser for a long time; in fact, he told us one time that someday he would take someone hostage and kill someone." Garrett said Kaiser had staged a similar incident in 1988 but was not prosecuted because of a "mental" condition. Divorce records in Maricopa County Superior Court provide brief and incomplete information about Kaiser, disclosing details of his financial life but nothing personal. Court records show that Michele Kaiser, 33, a third-grade teacher at Wood Elementary School in Tempe, filed for divorce Aug. 5, saying her nearly seven-year marriage was irretrievably broken and there were no prospects for reconciliation.

Under Arizona's no-fault divorce law, that was all she needed to seek to end the marriage, which was forged in Phoenix in December 1984. The records show that the Kaisers had two sons, ages 3 years and 10 months, and listed the same home address in the 4300 block of North 20th Street when the divorce was filed, but it was not clear whether they remained under the same roof. The location was the scene of sniper fire Wednesday that killed two people, including a Phoenix police officer, and wounded six others. Andrea Bartlet, assistant principal at Wood Elementary, 727 W. Cornell Drive, confirmed that Michele Kaiser teaches at the school but would not discuss Wednesday's events.

"I need to protect her privacy," Bartlet said. Michele Kaiser had asked the court that she be awarded custody of the children and that she be given exclusive use and possession of the family's home pending a final court order dissolving the marriage. Barry Kaiser was an air-conditioning teacher at RSI-The Refrigeration School, 4210 E. Washington but Mary Simmons, admissions director at RSI, said Kaiser abruptly quit his part-time job about two weeks ago. "I know he was going through a divorce and he was going through a rough time," Simmons said.

Contributing to this article were Randy Collier and Bill Goodykoontz of The Arizona Republic. keeping the media away and neighbors in their homes, and covering the gunman's house from every angle. The armored car and the truck arrived within the first hour, and officers retrieved the dead and wounded. Other officers, carrying steel shields, made their way to where McKterin and the trainees were crouching behind the wall and escorted them to safety behind the shields. Claims he has hostages The gunman told police by phone that he was holding hostages in the house, had many weapons, and had wired a door with explosives.

He refused all efforts to persuade him to surrender, including those of two FBI hostage negotiators who had arrived on the scene, police said. Police then settled down for a long, tense afternoon siege. They cut off the home's power and utilities about 4 p.m., hoping that the afternoon heat and the uncertainty would force the gunman to surrender. Then, just before 5 p.m., they charged the house after setting off several stun grenades. "You could really feel the explosions; they rattled the windows," said Steven Walters, who lives about six houses away on Glenrosa Avenue.

"Suddenly, a mass of people seemed to surge out of everywhere. All at once, officers were running toward 20th Street." Inside, they found only a dead gunman and several high-powered weapons. Police were shaken and angry at the loss of Kolodziej, one of their own. "It's just a real tragedy," Police Chief Garrett said. "I went over to the hospital and talked to the family.

It's just a real emotional event." Contributing to this article were Peter Aleshire, Frederick Bermudez, Randy Collier, Bill Goodykoontz, Julia Lobaco, Jean Novotny, M.E. Saavedra, David Schwartz, Gail Tabor, Laura Trujillo, Joyce Valdez, Brent Whiting and Clint Williams of The Arizona Republic. 3am nt juuicu uui Ul uic tractor to see whether his backhoe had run over something. Suddenly, he heard Barraza's voice behind him. "My arm.

My back," he groaned. 'Blood was pouring out' Marin turned to find his co-worker covered with blood. "Blood was just pouring out of him," Marin said. Crew members ran for cover. Someone helped Barraza get off the backhoe.

Suddenly, Finney flashed past on a bicycle. She had been visiting a longtime friend, Susan Rinker, and had borrowed Rinker's bike for a ride around the quiet, middle-class neighborhood. Finney evidently didn't understand what was happening, and no one managed to stop her. She was felled almost immediately by another burst of gunfire, according to witnesses. Unconfirmed reports indicate that the gunman began firing from inside his open garage.

Kip Hoskins, 27, was in his apartment at 20th Street and Campbell Avenue when he heard the first volley of shots. "It was just 'boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, he said. Hoskins said he rushed upstairs to another apartment, where he had a view of the street. He said he was alarmed to see a truck weaving down the street, then watched in horror as Finney rode into view, only to be felled by gunfire. More shots ring out A moment later, a police car drove up.

An officer emerged from the car where the truck had come to a halt, as though he intended to help the driver, Hoskins said. But more shots rang out, and the 'It was hell' Michele Ulrich and her two children hid in a closet in their home three houses down the street. "It was hell," she said. "At first, I thought it was a car backfiring. Who would think there was a wacko running around in a quiet neighborhood like this?" Ulrich said she tried desperately to keep her children, ages 1 and 9 months, quiet.

Finally, a police officer came to the window with a bullhorn. "I screamed, 'Get my children out of she said. "A policeman stuck his gun in the house and said, 'Show me your Police commandeered a passing cement truck, and officers in flak jackets walked beside it, using it as a shield so they could pick up their felled colleagues. Later, they called in a Wells Fargo armored car and used it for cover to rescue two badly wounded construction workers. Eventually, more than 100 officers took up positions around the house, Trainees receive deadly welcome to police work Two trainees who hope to become members of the Phoenix Police Department got a harrowing firsthand look Wednesday at how deadly police work can be.

Shawn Willbanks and Paul Wallace were riding in the third police car to arrive at a home in the 4300 block of North 20th Street, where a sniper, armed with an automatic weapon and barricaded inside, had killed Officer Leonard Kolodziej and a passing bicyclist, Jane Finney. The gunman, Barry W. Kaiser, also wounded Officer Mike Wheelis and five other people. Heavily armed police officers later stormed the house and found Kaiser shot dead by his own hand. Willbanks and Wallace were riding with Officer John McKterin when they were caught in a hail of gunfire as Kaiser kept up a steady barrage with an automatic weapon from a window of the house.

McKterin jumped out of the car, apparently hoping to help Officers Kolodziej and Wheelis. He ordered the trainees to stay in the car. But Kaiser apparently turned his fire on the car, sending the trainees scrambling for the shelter of a 3-foot-high retaining wall in front of the house. "We ran and got out of 'the car, and two shots went over our heads," said Wallace, who is scheduled to enter the police academy Sept. 24.

"That's when we hit the ground." Thiriy-nine percent t)l the newsprint used hy Phoenix Newspapers, Inc. contains recycled pdper liner. Please recycle The A rutjna Rrpuhlit: Call 256-5626 for the recycling center nearest you or 257-2372 tor a tree state recycling directory. TODAY'S CHUCKLE Living on a budget is the same as living beyond your means, except you have a record of it. TODAY'S PRAYER Lord, thank you for daily comforts we enjoy.

Amen. CORRECTIONS In an article on Page Bl Wednesday a statement was incorrectly attributed to attorney Thomas M. Hoidal. The statement was made by attorney Bruce Feder, who represents Jennifer Day. Hoidal represents Dennis Mills.

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