Home destroyed during deadly standoff with PCSO deputies near Apache Junction
APACHE JUNCTION, AZ (3TV/CBS 5) — Linda and Bill Gray are devasted. The home near Apache Junction they’ve lived in for 23 years went up in flames Tuesday night. Their furniture, clothing, family photos are all gone. “We bought this place for our retirement home,” said Bill Gray. “Now, we have to start all over again and it’s sad.”
The house burned down during a standoff with a neighbor and Pinal County Sheriff’s Office deputies, who first arrived on the scene for a domestic violence call. Fifty-three-year-old Daniel Barnes had barricaded himself in an RV parked in the garage of a home off Southern Avenue and Acacia Road, PCSO said. A SWAT team tried to talk him out. Barnes was reportedly spotted with a knife and handgun, then set the garage on fire. “I couldn’t tell exactly what he was saying, but he was yelling back at deputies as they were saying Daniel come out,” said Samuel Gray. “But he wouldn’t comply by any means.”
According to the PCSO, a confrontation led to a deputy shooting and killing Barnes. Moments later, the fire spread to the house next door. Arizona’s Family has learned that Barnes had been arrested twice this year for assault and disorderly conduct. The Grays said they’ve had problems with him for years, making threats to neighbors and acting erratically. “He was a loose cannon,” said Linda Gray. “He would blow up over nothing and throw things and stomp around and screech vehicles. Yeah, he wasn’t OK. I’ve been afraid to go in my backyard. I’ve lived in fear for two years. It’s hard to live that way
A GoFundMe page has been set up to help the Gray family.
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