Sheriff: Watauga County killer could have been planning public gun attack

Watauga County Sheriff Len Hagaman says the man who killed his mother, stepfather, and two police officers could have been planning a public attack.

Family members said the attitude of Isaac Barnes plus the large cache of weapons he collected led investigators to believe he was lying in wait to ambush police who surrounded his family’s home in Boone on Wednesday.

Barnes committed suicide following a 13-hour standoff. Hagaman noted that his department had been alerted to Barnes’ behavior just days before the killings.

(PHOTO: Associated Press)