A man who killed two people and wounded six when he opened fire on his neighborhood was beset by money and marital problems and had once threatened to shoot himself and others, police said.
Barry W. Kaiser carried out the threat Wednesday, one day before his 36th birthday. He peppered his middle-class neighborhood with 30 rounds from a semiautomatic rifle and then shot himself in the head.Slain in the barrage was Jane Finney, 40, of Thorp, Wash., who was riding past on a borrowed bicycle, and police Officer Leonard Kolodiej, 43, who had just arrived at the scene.
The injured included a passing motorist hit by glass when a bullet shattered his windshield and a construction worker shot while operating a backhoe.
Kaiser was found dead when police stormed his house after a five-hour standoff.
The officers fired no shots, said police Sgt. Kevin Robinson. The Maricopa County Medical Examiner's Office said an autopsy confirmed Kaiser killed himself.
Although several neighbors described Kaiser as not one to cause trouble, police painted a picture of a man beset by mounting personal and financial troubles who had threatened similar violence four years before.
In the month leading up to Wednesday's rampage, Kaiser had quit his job as an instructor at an air-conditioning repair school. His wife, Michele, had filed for divorce, and a court had ordered him to leave the couple's Phoenix home.
According to a police report, on Sept. 9, 1987, Kaiser, who was caucasian, called a crisis center and threatened "to kill some black people and kill himself."
He was taken to a hospital for counseling. He was also charged with marijuana possession, but the charge was later dropped.
Interim Police Chief Dennis Garrett said Thursday it appeared clear Kaiser didn't get the mental help he needed in 1987.