TEMPE, AZ — ABC15 is learning more about the chaotic moments unfolding at the home of former head of Arizona prisons Charles Ryan.
Tempe police released crime scene photos and the 911 call from the night Ryan's wife called police about her husband. All of which was reviewed before police recommended charges to the county attorney's office.
The evidence also paints a better picture as to what happened during an hours-long standoff at his home.
"911, what is your emergency?" asks the 911 dispatcher.
"My husband just shot himself," responds Ryan's wife.
That frantic 911 call lasted seven minutes. Ryan's wife told dispatchers she was in the family room when she heard a loud noise.
Ryan's wife says she then found her husband in the bathroom by himself.
"He's just standing there. His... um... hand was bloody," she said.
"And, was he speaking to you at all?" asks the dispatcher.
"No, but he was standing up and then I just... he still had the gun, so I just turned around and went to the other part of the house. I didn't know what he was going to do," she responded.
Ryan's wife can be heard calling out for their daughter. The two of them then got out of the house before Tempe police arrived.
The moments that followed were captured on body camera video.
"Charles, let me see both of your hands. Let me see both of your hands, right now," shouts an officer in the body camera video.
Ryan is seen peeking out behind a door, leading into the garage.
"I can't tell what that is ... it's a gun— gun... he's got a gun. Drop the gun, Charles. Drop it. He was pointing it at us. Charles, drop the gun," shouts the officer in the body camera video.
Ultimately, officers shoot Ryan with bean bag rounds. Police had initially said he had a self-inflicted gunshot wound to one of his hands but, later clarified that his injury was caused by a bean bag.
As for what led officers to the home in the first place, police state Ryan shot a gun in the bathroom, causing sink fragments to cut his forehead.
"So, everything was fine, all normal, and you just heard the gunshot?" asks the 911 dispatcher.
"Yeah, he had been drinking earlier but, you know, that's not abnormal," responds Ryan's wife.
Tempe police recommended charges of aggravated assault on a peace officer and unlawful discharge of a firearm. It's ultimately up to the county attorney's office to decide whether to file any charges.
Police tell ABC15 the case remains under review.
