Utah Police Nearly Recaptured Fugitive Who Killed Officer

Police talk at the scene of an officer-involved shooting, in Holladay, Utah, Sunday, Jan. 17, 2016. Utah police officer Douglas Barney was killed Sunday, after he was shot by a suspect who was later killed by police. (Scott Sommerdorf/The Salt Lake Tribune via AP) DESERET NEWS OUT; LOCAL TELEVISION OUT; MAGS OUT; MANDATORY CREDIT

This undated photo provided by the Salt Lake County Sheriff's Office shows Douglas Barney. Utah police officer Barney was killed Sunday, Jan. 17, 2016, after he was shot by a suspect who was later killed by police. Salt Lake County Sheriff's Office via AP

SALT LAKE CITY—A Utah police department is grieving for a fellow officer slain while working overtime to pay for his cancer treatments amid questions about why his shooter was on the streets in the first place, despite a long rap sheet.

Officer Douglas Scott Barney, of Unified Police of Salt Lake County, was killed Sunday after coming across Cory Lee Henderson, who later died in a shootout with other officers.

Henderson, 31, had walked away from a state-run parolee drug treatment center last month. It was his latest cycle through federal prisons and halfway houses as he faced multiple gun and drug-related charges over the past decade.

Gang investigators had tracked him to a Salt Lake City suburb Friday night, but missed capturing him, said Lt. Lex Bell of the Unified Police.

“They’re taking it a little bit hard,” Bell said.

Henderson had run a red light and crashed a car Sunday, then walked away. Barney, 44, who was responding after the crash, was found shot in the head, his gun still in the holster.