On a Sunday morning in Holladay, Utah, a seemingly routine traffic accident set in motion a chain of events that would end in tragedy. It was January 17, 2016, and Douglas Scott Barney, a 44-year-old Caucasian male and an 18-year veteran of law enforcement, was on duty. He was working an overtime shift to help cover the costs of his cancer treatments. When a call came in about a traffic collision, Barney responded to the scene near the intersection of 4500 South and 2300 East.
Upon arrival, Officer Barney observed a man and a woman walking away from the crash. As he approached them to investigate, the man, later identified as 31-year-old Cory Lee Henderson, produced a handgun and shot Barney in the head. The wound proved to be fatal, and the officer, a husband and father of three, died from his injuries. Barney was a well-regarded officer known for his boisterous personality and his ability to de-escalate tense situations with humor. His death marked the first line-of-duty fatality for the Unified Police Department since its formation in 2010.
Following the shooting of Officer Barney, a massive police response was initiated to locate the suspect. Henderson was a fugitive with an extensive criminal history, including firearm and drug-related charges. He had recently walked away from a state-run parolee drug treatment center, and there was an active warrant for his arrest. A short time after the initial shooting, other officers located Henderson on a nearby street. A fierce shootout erupted between Henderson and the responding officers. In the exchange of gunfire, another officer, Jon Richey, was wounded, and Henderson was killed. The female who was with Henderson at the time of the initial incident fled the scene but was later located and interviewed by police; no charges were filed against her.
