On August 3, 1995, Binghamton Police Officer Lee Barta, 29, was killed while searching for a fugitive. Officers were following a tip that 19-year-old Edmond Travis III, who had fled a work-release program, was at a Liberty Street residence. Travis was hidden in a closet and opened fire when officers searched the house; Barta was struck and fatally wounded.

A United States Marine Corps veteran, Barta had served four years with the Binghamton Police Department after time with the Broome County Sheriff’s Office. He and his wife were expecting their second son at the time. A large manhunt followed; authorities located Travis about seven hours later in a basement on a nearby street, where he died by suicide as police closed in.

The neighborhood later established the Lee Barta Community Center in his memory. If anyone knew Officer Barta or witnessed events around Liberty Street on August 3, 1995, please share information that might add to the record.