Roll of Honor
Incident
Sergeant Thomas Hontz was killed following a training exercise when a piece of equipment exploded at about 5:00 pm.
He was participating in a SWAT team training exercise at two vacant homes on the southwest corner of the intersection of Guadalupe Road and Higley Road in Gilbert. The training was nearing completion when a device used to puncture a wall and pump tear gas into a room exploded. Fourteen other officers and firefighters from several agencies were injured as a result of the explosion.
Sergeant Hontz had served 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.
Survivors
He is survived by his wife and three sons.
In Our Keeping
- Permanent identifier
BO-US-AZ-B4E9ED72- Stewardship
- Maintained by NeuraWeb Global Inc.
- Added to badge.nw
- April 2, 2026
- Last updated
- July 23, 2026
Honored here by 1 sentinel - 1 tribute.
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Tributes
24 years. You could have gone home.
Sergeant Hontz gave the Scottsdale Police Department 24 years. Still answering calls at the end.
Thank you for your service to the Scottsdale community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Sergeant Hontz.
— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993
Agency
Service Record
Incident Details
Sergeant Thomas Alan Hontz is one of 10,088 officers lost to accidents in the line of duty across the full record of this memorial — 31% of all 32,508 officers honored here.
In AZ, 95 of 330 officers were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 28.8% of this state's fallen. That is 2.2 percentage points below the national rate of 31%.
At Scottsdale Police Department, 2 of 2 officers on record were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 100% of this agency's fallen.
National Cause Distribution
How Accident compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. Thomas Alan Hontz's cause is highlighted.
How Thomas Alan Hontz Compares
When Accident Deaths Occur
Monthly distribution of Accident deaths across the full memorial record. Thomas Alan Hontz is highlighted in Feb.
Incident Location
Others Who Wore This Badge
1 officer from Scottsdale Police Department are honored on badge.nw.
