Roy Andrew “Drew” Barr Wiki

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Who was Roy Andrew “Drew” Barr ?

A South Carolina police officer was killed in the line of duty while responding to a domestic disturbance on Sunday, police say.

The suspect accused of fatally shooting Roy Andrew “Drew” Barr, 28, an officer with the Cayce Police Department, also died, authorities say.

Suspect

The unidentified suspect killed himself after officers tried to negotiate with him for seven hours, Chief Chris Cowan said at a news conference.

Columbia Police Department negotiators worked for seven hours to reach a “peaceful resolution of the situation,” but ultimately the suspect took his own life, the chief said.

“Every day we talk as police officers about how difficult this job is,” Cowan said. “We talked about the commitment it takes to go out at 3 in the morning and risk your life. Officer Barr made the ultimate sacrifice for us, to keep us safe, and he loved what he did, but he paid the ultimate sacrifice.”

Facebook

Barr was shot while responding to a domestic disturbance just before 3 a.m., the Cayce Police Department said on Facebook.

When officers arrived at the home, they found a man standing in the front yard, Cowan said.

When officers tried to contact him, shots were fired from inside the home and one of them hit Barr, the chief said.

Experts say responding to a domestic disturbance call is one of the most dangerous circumstances for police, CNN previously reported.

Incident

Several factors can make a domestic violence incident very dangerous for responding officers, according to Jon Shane, a professor in the department of Criminal Justice at John Jay College of Criminal Justice.

“The first is that you’re entering someone’s private domain and you’re putting a very public face on a very private matter,” Shane told CNN.

“People’s emotions are already running high from whatever dispute they’re involved in, and now you bring the coercive power of the state. People are angry and angry to see you, knowing that there is a possibility of being arrested and jailed.”

Barr was a firefighter, an emergency medical technician and a police officer committed to his profession, Cowan said.

Barr joined the police department in 2016. He was promoted to the K-9 unit in October 2020 and “loved his dog, Molly,” the chief added.

“He cared about nothing but serving his community, and he was shot dead this morning for no reason,” the chief said. “There was no call for it. There was no reason for it. It was inexcusable.”

During a brief news conference, Mayor Elise Partin said that Barr was an important part of the city outside of Columbia.

“Our hearts are breaking at Cayce,” Partin said.