Officials said William Kasberg was under investigation in Rockport, Texas, for alleged invasive visual recording.
SAN ANTONIO — San Antonio police veteran William Kasberg died by suicide when he shot himself outside a vacant elementary school Tuesday, not in an accidental discharge of his gun, the county medical examiner has ruled.
William McManus, chief of the San Antonio Police Department, made a point to emphasize on Tuesday that the case shouldn’t be described as a suicide at that point. Two days later, that’s how Bexar County officials have categorized the death.
Kasberg was arriving to the vacant Columbia Heights Elementary School for a state-mandated training exercise and unloading equipment when he “used a personally owned handgun” to take his own life, SAPD officials said Thursday. He was taken to a hospital where he was pronounced dead.
The officer, who had been with SAPD for 30 years and was nearing retirement, was under investigation in Rockport, Texas, for alleged invasive visual recording. Authorities in that Corpus Christi-area city say they were looking into a report made on Nov. 25 centered on Kasberg, who was off-duty and visiting with his family earlier in the month.
“During the visit, an invasive video recording was located by a family member of Kasberg’s girlfriend,” Rockport PD said in a statement.
Rockport Police Chief Nathan Anderson added the victim was 17 years old.
“Kasberg was immediately named as the person who was reportedly doing the recording in one of our hotels in the City of Rockport,” Anderson said.
Detectives contacted Kasberg on Monday, at which point he “indicated he would agree to speak” with them at some point, officials said.
But he took his own life the next day.
Rockport’s police chief said the investigation into the alleged recording will continue as they work to gather digital evidence. However, he said if they believe it was Kasberg behind the recording, the case will be cleared.
“I can’t speak for any victims, but I can only imagine that makes it extremely difficult,” Anderson said.
SAPD said its wellness and psychological services teams were being made available for personnel this week. Rockport PD said their investigation is ongoing.
No students or staff were present Tuesday at Columbia Heights, which has been closed for over a year.