Dillon E. Walker, 31, is shown moments before he pointed a gun toward Barren County deputies on this body-worn camera footage obtained by WCLU News.
(BARREN CO. SHERIFF’S OFFICE)
By BRENNAN D. CRAIN, WCLU News
CAVE CITY — Prosecutors will not seek action against two Barren County deputies involved in a shooting along Paul Clark Road last July.
Deputies Trey Wyatt and Jason Morgan responded to a complaint on July 9, 2022. A resident along the dead-end road called just before 4 a.m. to report that a vehicle was stuck in his yard, according to records obtained by WCLU News. It had been raining that morning and the vehicle was unable to move due to the softened and wet ground.
Wyatt arrived at the scene first and found a blue pickup truck entangled within a playground set. The truck was idling. A man and a 5-year-old child appeared from the vehicle. The man, later identified as Dillon E. Walker, of Westmoreland, Tenn., ran into a pitch-black field.
Morgan arrived at the scene a short time later and the two deputies walked into the field to find him. The child had been placed in the back of a deputy’s cruiser.
Walker was eventually discovered with a knife and gun. He urged deputies several times to kill him, according to officer-worn camera footage. He was shot once after he pointed the gun toward the deputies. They had asked him at least a dozen times to drop the weapon.
Deputies later told Kentucky State Police, who handled the investigation, Walker had a CO2-style pistol. The deputies said they thought the gun was a Glock handgun. It was later determined to be a Glock brand, Model 17-style, BB gun, according to records obtained by WCLU News. Due to the darkness and rain, there was no way to see that the gun was not real.
Kentucky State Police discovered through the investigation that Walker had told his wife, Brittany, he had plans to commit suicide by cop. She revealed the information in a call to someone at the Sumner County Jail. She also confirmed in an interview with police that he had a history of mental health diagnoses such as bipolar disorder and depression.
“He’s been saying that for months,” she said on the recorded call.
The deputies said in separate interviews that they feared for their lives during the encounter with Walker. He did not heed their commands to drop his weapons, according to a video obtained by WCLU News.
Walker had several substances in his blood at the time of his death, according to an autopsy report. Among those on the toxicology screening were methamphetamine, amphetamine, buprenorphine and norbuprenorphine. His final cause of death was central nervous system damage from the gunshot wound.
Commonwealth’s Attorney John Gardner said in a November 2022 letter that he reviewed the KSP investigation. The investigation was completed sometime last fall.
“Based upon the fact that Walker was apparently armed with two deadly weapons, refused numerous verbal commands, and waived the gun at deputies immediately prior to Deputy Morgan firing the fatal shot, I do not believe there is sufficient evidence to prove the use of deadly force was not justified,” the letter said.
WCLU News made several requests throughout the fall and winter for records related to this case to no avail. Those records were turned over in late February 2023. These details have been published in an effort to promote transparency since a subject was killed.
