On the morning of June 13, 2007, Clay City Police Chief Randy Lacy, 55, was killed while transporting a DUI arrestee. Lacy stopped a suspected intoxicated driver, 37-year-old Jamie Barnett, and placed him under arrest. Lacy handcuffed Barnett with his hands in front rather than behind, then drove him toward the Powell County Detention Center.

While in the cruiser, Barnett gained access to a secondary firearm stored in the front cabin and fired a single shot through the partition, striking Chief Lacy in the back of the head. The cruiser left the roadway, hit a street sign and ended up in a ditch. Witnesses who initially thought it was a crash found Lacy unresponsive; Barnett broke the rear window and tried to flee but was quickly apprehended, including by Lacy’s brother, a sheriff’s deputy. Lacy was pronounced dead at the scene, ending a 22-year law enforcement career.

Barnett was arrested and charged with murder; at trial in July 2008 the jury convicted him of wanton murder and he was sentenced to life in prison. Does anyone have additional details about the transport practices or the cruiser configuration that could explain how the weapon became accessible?