LAYTON, Utah — A man was shot by police at an apartment complex in Layton early Wednesday morning after he allegedly went out on a balcony with a rifle and made threatening comments towards officers.
Police tell FOX 13 News they were called to the Layton Meadows Apartments, located at 540 West 1425 North just after 4:30 a.m. on an unrelated domestic violence call.
When they arrived at the complex, police reported a man, later identified as 31-year-old Nathan Barker, went out on a balcony with a rifle and yelled at them.
Barker talked about wanting to shoot the officers and sounded impaired, police report. He also was pointing the rifle around the entire complex.
"We were caught off guard, obviously, he had nothing to do with this case," explained Lt. Travis Lyman with the Layton Police Department.
For more than an hour, officials tried to calm Barker down.
"Trying to de-escalate him, get him to put the rifle down," Lyman said. "He was in and out of his apartment, yelling at us, threatening us, pointing the rifle all over the courtyard of this apartment complex that his apartment overlooked."
Lyman said that due to the proximity of other residents in the area, officers were immediately concerned.
"That early in the morning, everybody is likely at home so we were really concerned about all of that."
Eventually, shots were fired by police and Barker was seriously injured, officials stated.
Later, police said a deputy from the Davis County Sheriff's Office was the one who fired his weapon. He was helping with containment during the incident, police report.
Sometime during the exchange, Barker also fired his weapon once, Lyman told FOX 13 News.
“At one point he did fire a shot, we’re not sure if it went into the air or into the ceiling of the balcony he was standing on, but he was just outside the door of the apartment overlooking is courtyard when he did fire the shot," Lyman said.
Exact details on why the shots were fired and what exactly led up to the shooting were not made immediately available as an investigation is underway.
Barker was taken to the hospital after the incident.
Stay with FOX 13 News and fox13now.com for the latest updates.
