Police release name of man killed at south Tucson scrapyard

Police identified the worker killed Wednesday as Daniel Wright, 46.

Authorities have released the name of a South Tucson scrapyard employee who died after he apparently cut into a metal object that turned out to be military ordnance.

At this point, police are uncertain how the explosive ordnance ended up at the scrap yard and investigators are working to understand the circumstances behind the incident.

Officials from the nearby Davis-Monthan Air Force Base told NBC station KVOA that a check was done after the deadly blast and no explosives were missing. “I heard the explosion”, said one witness.

“Whenever there is an explosion of ordnance, there are always pieces left over – fragments of metal that may not have exploded completely”, Ranaweera said. No one else was hurt, police said.

Police evacuated the remaining employees, and a bomb squad took over the investigation.

They say it’s unclear what the ordnance was doing at the scrap yard or how it got there.