Barry Shelton
Reserve Deputy

Barry Shelton

Sullivan County Sheriff's Dept. — Blountville, TN
Accident
End of Watch September 30, 2001
Age 40
Tour of Duty 3 yrs
The Vigil Panel 149 ›
Gender Male

Incident

Reserve Deputy Barry Shelton and Deputy Stephen Riner were killed in a single vehicle accident while responding to a domestic violence call.

Both officers were killed when their vehicle went off the roadway and hit a tree.

Reserve Deputy Shelton had been a member of the Sullivan County Sheriff's Department for three years, and is survived by his wife, three sons, two sisters, twin brother, father, and grandmother. His twin brother, Brett, also served with the Sullivan County Sheriff's Department as a Reserve Deputy and was the first office on the scene of the accident.

Survivors

Reserve Deputy Shelton had been a member of the Sullivan County Sheriff's Department for three years, and is survived by his wife, three sons, two sisters, twin brother, father, and grandmother.

In Our Keeping

Permanent identifier
BO-US-TN-58A3717B
Stewardship
Maintained by NeuraWeb Global Inc.
Added to badge.nw
April 2, 2026
Last updated
July 23, 2026

Honored here by 1 sentinel - 1 tribute.

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Tributes

I never knew you. I am standing here anyway.
Reserve Deputy Shelton gave the Sullivan County Sheriff's Office 3 years.
Thank you for your service to the Blountville community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Reserve Deputy Shelton.

— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993

Agency

Location Blountville, TN
Platform Identity scso.sullivan.tn.us.gov.nw

Service Record

End of Watch September 30, 2001
Tour of Duty 3 yrs
Age 40
Gender Male

Incident Details

Cause Accident

Reserve Deputy Barry Shelton is one of 10,088 officers lost to accidents in the line of duty across the full record of this memorial — 31% of all 32,508 officers honored here.

In TN, 191 of 769 officers were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 24.8% of this state's fallen. That is 6.2 percentage points below the national rate of 31%.

At Sullivan County Sheriff's Dept., 3 of 12 officers on record were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 25% of this agency's fallen.

Sullivan County Sheriff's Dept.
3
of 12 officers
25% Accident
TN — Statewide
191
of 769 officers
24.8% Accident
Nationwide
10,088
of 32,508 officers
31% Accident

National Cause Distribution

How Accident compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. Barry Shelton's cause is highlighted.

Felonious
17,623 (54.2%)
Accident
10,088 (31%)
Illness
2,974 (9.1%)
Cardiac
1,306 (4%)
Undetermined
260 (0.8%)
Suicide
256 (0.8%)
vehicular
1 (0%)

How Barry Shelton Compares

Age at End of Watch
40
This officer
Avg for Accident: 38.1 years
Years of Service
3
This officer
Avg for Accident: 9.1 years

When Accident Deaths Occur

Monthly distribution of Accident deaths across the full memorial record. Barry Shelton is highlighted in Sep.

Jan
820
Feb
730
Mar
748
Apr
707
May
847
Jun
795
Jul
897
Aug
937
Sep
913
Oct
925
Nov
872
Dec
897