Rich Civic Times
GARDEN CITY, Utah. August 1, 2015. Sunday, July 26, 2015, three days before Roger Barker of Providence was killed by a Logan SWAT team, he was in Garden City at his cabin threatening suicide according to Rich County Sheriff Dale Stacey. Barker had called his wife to inform her and she called the Logan Police who got him on the telephone to talk him down. A neighbor went over to help. Rich County Sheriff Dale Stacey and another officer were then able to take him to Logan Regional Hospital to the secure mental health unit. During the drive, Stacey said that Barker was cooperative and pleasant. It was emotional for Stacey to hear that he had been killed after that interaction with him, he said.
"What people don't realize is that we have the same problems as they do anywhere else, we just do not have back up or SWAT teams or trained people to work a stand off", said Stacey.
A Herald Journal Article by Amy Macavinta, July 30, 2015 reports:
"Police say Wednesday’s effort to work through a period of despondency and threats of suicide with 53-year-old Roger Barker of Providence was not their first interaction with him this week.
Logan Police Chief Gary Jensen said a patrol officer spoke at length with Barker on Sunday and was able to convince the man to seek help. Then, Wednesday afternoon, Barker was served with temporary protective orders after a family member petitioned the court for assistance.
By the end of the day, Barker was dead.
As the news spread across social media Thursday, many people expressed shock and disbelief. He was described as a one-of-a-kind person who would have given everything he had to help someone else.
Cade Brenchley, who knows Barker and his family, said Barker always had a smile.
“I just can’t imagine what happened to push him to this brink,” he said.
Several hours after learning of the protective order, Barker was once again threatening suicide, and police responded to a home at 346 N. 200 East in Logan, where he was staying.
Jensen said an officer tried to talk with him for a period of time before it became necessary to bring in a SWAT team to help manage Barker and the safety of the public.
Negotiators continued to talk with him for more than an hour. During that time, he became more and more agitated as the situation unfolded over the police radio. Barker was often seen on the front porch with his phone in his left hand and a handgun in his right.
On more than one occasion, he told negotiators he would shoot the officer in front of the home if that officer didn’t leave, or he would shoot out the spotlight if officers didn’t stop shining it at his apartment.
At one point in the ordeal, negotiators reportedly told commanding officers that Barker asked, “How many people are going to die tonight?”
“Eventually those talks (between Barker and negotiators) broke down, and Mr. Barker presented himself at the doorway to his home with a handgun, and once again, Mr. Barker fired a shot toward a police vehicle parked right across the street, and in turn there were officers right there … and they returned fire,” Jensen said during a press conference Thursday afternoon.
Although paramedics were staged nearby and able to immediately begin life-saving actions, Barker was pronounced dead shortly after his arrival at Logan Regional Hospital.
Two officers — a Logan City Police officer and a Cache County Sheriff’s deputy — have been placed on routine administrative leave while an outside agency investigates the chain of events leading to Barker’s death.
Sheriff Chad Jensen said this is a unique situation with two officers, each from a different agency, who are involved in an on-the-job shooting incident.
“In order to have a fair and honest and productive investigation, we have turned this over to an outside agency,” he said.
The Davis County Sheriff’s Office works to that end, and Chief Jensen said law enforcement will be keeping most of the details at bay until the conclusion of the investigation.
Barker does not appear to have a history of drug or alcohol abuse, nor does he have a criminal history per se.
He does have a booking record in the Cache County Jail, likely from an incident in 2012 when he was charged with violating an earlier protective order, but that charge was later dismissed."
amacavinta@hjnews.com;Twitter: amacavinta
A Herald Journal Article by Amy Macavinta, July 30, 2015 reports:
"Police say Wednesday’s effort to work through a period of despondency and threats of suicide with 53-year-old Roger Barker of Providence was not their first interaction with him this week.
Logan Police Chief Gary Jensen said a patrol officer spoke at length with Barker on Sunday and was able to convince the man to seek help. Then, Wednesday afternoon, Barker was served with temporary protective orders after a family member petitioned the court for assistance.
By the end of the day, Barker was dead.
As the news spread across social media Thursday, many people expressed shock and disbelief. He was described as a one-of-a-kind person who would have given everything he had to help someone else.
Cade Brenchley, who knows Barker and his family, said Barker always had a smile.
“I just can’t imagine what happened to push him to this brink,” he said.
Several hours after learning of the protective order, Barker was once again threatening suicide, and police responded to a home at 346 N. 200 East in Logan, where he was staying.
Jensen said an officer tried to talk with him for a period of time before it became necessary to bring in a SWAT team to help manage Barker and the safety of the public.
Negotiators continued to talk with him for more than an hour. During that time, he became more and more agitated as the situation unfolded over the police radio. Barker was often seen on the front porch with his phone in his left hand and a handgun in his right.
On more than one occasion, he told negotiators he would shoot the officer in front of the home if that officer didn’t leave, or he would shoot out the spotlight if officers didn’t stop shining it at his apartment.
At one point in the ordeal, negotiators reportedly told commanding officers that Barker asked, “How many people are going to die tonight?”
“Eventually those talks (between Barker and negotiators) broke down, and Mr. Barker presented himself at the doorway to his home with a handgun, and once again, Mr. Barker fired a shot toward a police vehicle parked right across the street, and in turn there were officers right there … and they returned fire,” Jensen said during a press conference Thursday afternoon.
Although paramedics were staged nearby and able to immediately begin life-saving actions, Barker was pronounced dead shortly after his arrival at Logan Regional Hospital.
Two officers — a Logan City Police officer and a Cache County Sheriff’s deputy — have been placed on routine administrative leave while an outside agency investigates the chain of events leading to Barker’s death.
Sheriff Chad Jensen said this is a unique situation with two officers, each from a different agency, who are involved in an on-the-job shooting incident.
“In order to have a fair and honest and productive investigation, we have turned this over to an outside agency,” he said.
The Davis County Sheriff’s Office works to that end, and Chief Jensen said law enforcement will be keeping most of the details at bay until the conclusion of the investigation.
Barker does not appear to have a history of drug or alcohol abuse, nor does he have a criminal history per se.
He does have a booking record in the Cache County Jail, likely from an incident in 2012 when he was charged with violating an earlier protective order, but that charge was later dismissed."
amacavinta@hjnews.com;Twitter: amacavinta
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