AFR: Canister thrown by deputy caused deadly house fire

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — On Friday, the Albuquerque Police Department and Albuquerque Fire Rescue gave a briefing on what happened during a SWAT standoff in July that ended with a house fire and the death of 15-year-old Brett Rosenau.

In July, police confirmed that Rosenau had died from smoke inhalation, prompting calls for an independent investigation into the standoff.

Key takeaways from Friday’s briefing:

• The canister thrown into the house by a BCSO deputy started the fire – AFR ruled out all other possibilities. The canister – designed to put out a chemical irritant – ignited a mattress, killing Rosenau from smoke inhalation.
• Police said Rosenau would have gone to jail for shooting a man in the neck less than a week before the fire. According to APD, he would’ve been charged had he survived.
• APD is not making any judgements on failures or successes as it’s still under review. The attorney general is among the agencies investigating APD’s SWAT response.
• Police were looking for Qiaunt Kelley, who only had a parole violation warrant at the time, but has since been charged with murder.

Police go over the timeline of events that day. They chased Kelley to the house and are now playing SWAT radio audio showing they thought this was an “HR” situation which means Hostage Rescue. They believed Rosenau could have been a hostage.

— Ryan Laughlin (@RyanLaughlinKOB) August 5, 2022

Here’s the moment a tri-chamber canister was thrown into the house and landed in a mattress and “cannot be ruled out” as the cause of the “accidental” fire. 1 hour 47 minutes later smoke is coming from the same area. Police showing efforts to use a robot to remove smoking items. pic.twitter.com/t9UHqUDPeR

— Ryan Laughlin (@RyanLaughlinKOB) August 5, 2022