Boone county standoff: Isaac Alton Barnes shoots dead parents, Isaac Alton Barnes & Michelle Annette Ligon, two N.C sheriffs deputies, then self dead.
A man has killed his elderly parents before opening gunfire and killing two North Carolina sheriffs deputies in a thirteen hours stand-off before shooting himself dead.
Isaac Alton Barnes, 32, is accused of killing his mother, Michelle Annette Ligon, 61, and stepfather George Wyatt Ligon, 58, WJHL reported.
He then began a 13-hour shootout with deputies from Boone County Sheriff’s Office who responded to the home in Boone for a welfare check Wednesday morning.
Two of those cops, Sgt. Chris Ward and K-9 Deputy Logan Fox, were shot and killed. A third deputy escaped uninjured.
Sheriff Len Hagaman told WRAL that people who knew Barnes had called law enforcement last weekend to warn them that he was dangerous and had ‘a lot of guns.’
Plan for taking people out
Hagaman said Barnes appeared to have a plan for ‘taking people out’.
‘They were just kind of giving us the heads-up – this is what he’s thinking about doing – and for us to be careful,’ Hagaman told the outlet.
Deputies were un-able to locate Barnes until he showed up to the house on Wednesday – and officials suspect he may have planned to target members of the public but was kept in the home by the officers who died.
‘We were trying to get him away from someplace where we could have more control over him. He just decided to take this route,’ Hagaman told WRAL.
‘I’m convinced now, in this situation, given the layout of the neighborhood … they did their job by keeping him in the house,’ he said, referring to the deputies who worked to contain Barnes inside his family’s home.
Watauga County Sheriff Len Hagaman revealed more details of the incident on Thursday morning, sharing that three deputies were dispatched to a home in Boone at 9:44am on Wednesday morning for a welfare check, unaware of the shooter in the home.
The deputies were dispatched after the homeowner and his family failed to report to work or answer calls. All of the vehicles were still on the property.
Responding sheriffs deputies ambushed
Authorities confirmed late Wednesday that Ward had died in an update around 9pm – nearly 10 hours after the standoff with police started.
Ward had been airlifted to Johnson City Medical Center in Tennessee where he succumbed to his injuries. Ward who was married to his high-school sweetheart was the father to a 19 year old and five year old.
Fox who had been killed on scene had been with the force for two years and leaves behind a fiancee.
The standoff last around 13 hours before coming to an end around 11pm. Barnes allegedly turned the gun on himself, The News Herald reports.
Hagaman believes the officers were ambushed by the suspect upon entering the home.
A firefighter and two police officers attempted to rescue the injured deputies before coming under fire themselves according to WSOC-TV.
Lots of firearms found at home
One Boone police officer was even hit by gunfire, but the bullet ended up hitting his Kevlar helmet and he was not injured, according to the sheriff.
There were periodic moments of gunfire mixed in with periods of ceasefires during the standoff.
A police canine was also shot during the welfare check. Investigators found ‘a lot’ of firearms in the home, though the exact number has not been specified.
More than a dozen emergency vehicles were spotted responding to the scene of the shooting, including at least three ambulances and a medical chopper.
Back the Blue NC started a GoFundMe to take care of Ward’s family, which has raised over $35,000 in just seven hours.
They’ve also raised over $24,000 for Fox’s family in six hours.
No known motive was offered for the gun violence.
