Two sheriff deputies were killed, and the suspected gunman and two other people were found dead after a 13-hour standoff in Boone, North Carolina, a sheriff’s office said Thursday.
The deputies were ambushed and fatally wounded as they headed down into the basement of the home after answering a wellness check call for a person who had not shown up for work.
The Watauga County sheriff’s office had received an alert on Sunday that the unidentified suspect who killed the deputies as well as his mother and stepfather “might be a problem,” Sheriff Len Hagaman said.
The 32-year-old suspect who took his own life was identified as Alton Barnes; he also killed his mother, Michelle Annette Ligon, and stepfather George Wyatt Ligon, who owned the home.
Hagaman said “concerned folks” who knew the suspect had alerted the sheriff’s office, but he was able to ambush the deputies who arrived on the scene because they did not “encounter him where we thought he would be.”
According to the police statement, the two deputies were responding to a call for a wellness check after the homeowner’s employer reported that the person did not show up for work and was not answering any phone calls.
K-9 Deputy Logan Fox died at the scene, and Sgt. Chris Ward died after being flown to a local area hospital.
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