A South Carolina police officer was killed in the line of duty after responding to a domestic disturbance call early Sunday morning, officials said.
Officer Roy Andrew “Drew” Barr, 28, of the Cayne Police Department had responded to the residence around 2:48 a.m. and made contact with a man who was standing in the front yard, Cayce Police Chief Chris Cowan said at a news conference Sunday.
Just as he began speaking with the man, several shots were fired from inside of the house — one of which struck and killed Barr.
The man who shot Barr barricaded himself in the home and killed himself after a seven-hour standoff with law enforcement. His identity has not yet been released.
Barr joined the Cayce police department as a trainee in 2016 before graduating from the police academy in 2017.
A dedicated community member, Barr additionally served as a volunteer firefighter and EMT. He became a K-9 officer with his beloved partner Molly, a black labrador retriever.
The Monetta Volunteer Fire Department said Barr was the captain of their department in Aiken County, WSPA reported.
“He was committed to his profession, he was committed to his community. He cared about nothing else than serving this community and he was shot and killed this morning for no reason,” Cowan said.
He had no wife or children, but “was married to this profession,” he said.
Barr had survived a shooting in 2017 when he was still a trainee, local news outlets reported. The gunman in that shooting is serving a 30-year sentence in state and federal sentences.
“Our hearts are breaking in Cayce,” Mayor Elise Partin told reporters on Sunday. “Officer Drew Barr has been an important part of the Cayce family since 2016.”
Cayce is a suburb of nearly 14,000 people just west of the capital, Columbia.
With Post Wires
