Army says it didn't know slain AWOL soldier was headed to Salt Lake City

SALT LAKE CITY — The U.S. Army Tuesday said it had no indication one of its AWOL soldiers who was shot and killed in Utah in August was headed to Salt Lake City.

Maj. Jenny Willis, spokeswoman for Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Tacoma, Wash., said it was the base's belief that Army Spec. Brandon Barrett, 28, was on his way back to the base from Tucson, Ariz. to turn himself in.

Barrett, dressed in full military combat gear and armed with 1,000 rounds of ammunition, was shot and killed by a Salt Lake police officer Aug. 27 after shooting the officer first.

Questions about the shooting were again raised on Tuesday following the release of new surveillance video from the Grand America Hotel, investigative photos and 911 tapes from Salt Lake police.

Barrett, who served the U.S. Army in Afghanistan, was dressed in full combat gear — including body armor issued by his base, a helmet, an assault rifle, two handguns and armed with more than 1,000 rounds of ammunition — when he fired at Salt Lake police officer Uppsen Downes on Aug. 27 near 600 S. State. Downes, despite being shot in the calf, was able to return fire, killing Barrett. Police believe Downes' actions may have saved others.

Hotel surveillance video released by Salt Lake police shows Barrett pacing for several minutes in the parking lot prior to the shooting and along State Street, apparently unaware that he was being watched by hotel security as well as passing bystanders who spotted him and alerted Downes, who was parked nearby. Barrett had just been asked to leave the hotel after trying to get to the elevators after asking about a stairwell.

Robyn Salmon, a security employee at the hotel and former longtime police department secretary, prevented Barrett from going to an upper floor by directing him out the door. She asked Barrett why he wanted to go upstairs.

"And he goes, 'I'm not sure,' " she told 911 dispatchers.

Salmon watched Barrett after he walked away as he paced the parking lot.

"He's marching like he's looking for something," she said.

Just moments later, multiple gunshots can be heard on the 911 tape.

"The police just shot him, they shot him!" exclaimed a man who Salmon handed the phone to. "There are about 10 police officers with rifles."