Cayce officer who died in the line of duty remembered as ‘one of the most sincere people’
In only about a decade of public service, Roy Andrew “Drew” Barr had become something of a public safety triple threat, certified to serve as a police officer, firefighter and EMT. He spent whatever time he wasn’t working as a K9 officer with Cayce’s police force volunteering in a rural firehouse.
Those who served with the young man described someone who was dedicated to helping other Lexington County residents in almost any way available to him, who had a bright career path ahead of him. That was until early Sunday morning, when the 28-year-old was shot and killed while responding to a domestic violence call.
Barr’s shooting precipitated a seven-hour standoff in a Cayce neighborhood with 36-year-old Austin Henderson, who ultimately died by his own hand, law enforcement officials say.
Barr started serving at the Monetta Volunteer Fire Department in the southeastern corner of Saluda County when he was still a teenager, eventually becoming a fire captain. By 19, he was an EMT with the Lexington County EMS, before he graduated from the S.C. Criminal Justice Academy in 2017 and joined the Cayce Department of Public Safety.
In 2019, he joined Cayce’s traffic unit, then moved to the K9 unit in 2020, working with his narcotics dog Molly. Colleagues say he never stopped working on new ways he could improve himself.
“He was the type of officer who would encourage the veteran officers to be better, to tighten up,” said former Cayce officer Evan Antley. “He had a lot of energy and passion for the job. People get into law enforcement for a lot of different reasons, but he was one of the most sincere people I’ve had the opportunity to train, the opportunity to work with.”
Antley handled training for Cayce’s police department, but he’d previously known Barr during Barr’s time with EMS. Antley also spent time with Cayce’s fire department, where he would often bunk alongside Barr, who worked there as a firefighter while going through his police training at the Criminal Justice Academy.
“Even though I outranked him, I looked up to him in the firehouse, and then the following year he looked up to me as a police officer,” Antley said. “He was going places. There aren’t a lot of people who are a certified firefighter, certified EMT and certified police officer.”
Barr continued to sharpen all of his public service skills. Brian Kaney, a volunteer firefighter in Monetta, served under Barr, who found the time to continue with the local fire department on top of his law enforcement duties.
Kaney described someone who was dedicated to public service, often spending his off time from the Cayce Department of Public Safety providing fire service for the small Saluda County town of around 200 people, located six miles southwest of Batesburg-Leesville.
“You couldn’t ask for a better guy,” Kaney said. “He’s not the kind of person you would meet on the street every day. He would give you the shirt off his back if you needed it.”
When a former firefighter moved back to the area from Connecticut, Kaney said Barr volunteered to drive a truck load of the firefighter’s belongings down the East Coast back to South Carolina.
“I don’t know how many times he would seek out training opportunities, and then when we found the time, he would say, ‘that’s a work day at the fire department,’” said Antley. “And he would not cancel that obligation. They both meant a lot to him.”
Antley got a first-hand view of Barr’s dedication in 2017, when the younger man did a ride-along with Antley to supplement his ongoing training. That shift ended with the pair chasing a stolen car over the Blossom Street bridge into Columbia, and then chasing the driver on foot into a wooded area along the Congaree River, where both officers were shot by the suspect.
“It just so happened that he got a lot more experience than he ever bargained for,” Antley said, noting the two men went on to share hospital space with each other while recovering from their injuries.
Eugene Jonathan James of Orangeburg was sentenced to a combined 30-year state and federal prison sentence after the incident, including for two counts of attempted murder.
But that night, Antley was also drawn closer to the “giving, selfless” Barr.
“That took a working, professional relationship and turned it into a down-and-dirty professional relationship really quick,” he said. “I told my wife and family — and I know Drew would say to his family — that we would be there for each other.”
Despite such a traumatic experience, his fellow officers say Barr’s shooting injuries did not deter him from continuing his law enforcement career. He had too much to do.
“He had every reason to get out of this profession and yet, despite his injuries, the scars both physical and mental that he bore, he came back to work for the people of our community,” Cayce Police Capt. Stephan Wilcox said in a news release. “If anyone knew the risks involved and what price may need to be paid to protect the rights and safety of our citizens, it was Drew Barr, and it barely slowed him down for a little bit.”
He continued to try to serve his community in whatever capacity he could.
“Whatever the city wanted him to do, he would do it,” Antley said. “Whether that was traffic or K9. Over the last five years, he did a lot for the city.”
While pursuing his law enforcement career in Cayce, Barr still lived in the Monetta area, Kaney said.
“He was a hands-on person, a very experienced firefighter and police officer,” Kaney said. “It’s a tragic loss for Monetta. He was an asset to the fire department and the community.”
On Monday, all the communities Barr had touched paid him tribute when his body was transported to the medical examiner’s office, escorted by eight separate law enforcement agencies and four fire departments.
“It’s heart-breaking,” Antley said. “We had these conversations all the time about calls. It’s an inherent risk, and he knew the risks... he understood what it could cost him, and even with his prior experience, he would still go out and fearlessly do his job.”
In his last days, Barr and Molly were promoting the Steel Paws Initiative, a promotion to benefit K9 programs in Lexington and Richland counties partnered with Cayce’s Steel Hands Brewing, which is producing a special wheat ale to drive proceeds to the area’s K9 officers. The Steel Paws kickoff event will be held at Steel Hands on Foreman Street on Saturday from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m.
The Cayce Public Safety Department is asking those looking to honor Barr donate to the Cayce Public Safety Foundation.
This story was originally published April 25, 2022 at 5:40 PM.
.jpg)