Police: "We may never fully understand..."

During previous encounters, police say there was nothing to indicate Barbour was a threat to the community, despite his family's concerns.

You have an adult family member who has a mental health problem and needs help. You fear they might be a danger to themselves or others, but they refuse to get help on their own. They also own two assault rifles, two hand guns, and 374 rounds of ammunition. What do you do?

The family of 28-year old Justin Barbour, who shot and killed two people in the parking lot of the Harris Teeter grocery store in Crozet on February 17 before being shot and killed by an off-duty federal law enforcement officer, reached out to authorities twice seeking help, once in December 2024 and again in January 2025.

“We asked advice on how to help him and ultimately, they told us he needed to hurt himself or someone else before anything could be done,” wrote Barbour’s sister, Tekaiya Barbour, on Facebook. “Unfortunately, the magistrate office and a few law enforcement officers told u…