The man shot and killed by police after he opened fire from the balcony of his Millcreek apartment was a veteran and former social worker.

George Huntzinger, 64, was a social service worker with the Utah Department of Child and Family Services between July 1988 and July 1997, said Elizabeth Sollis, spokeswoman for the Utah Department of Human Services.

Huntzinger's eldest son Dustin, a doctor in the Air Force stationed in Anchorage, Alaska, said his father was a great dad and a great grandfather.

George Huntzinger had five children and more than a dozen grandchildren.

He said his father served in the Navy in the Vietnam era during the Cuban missile crisis, though he was never in Vietnam. He was honorably discharged and went onto serve more than a dozen years in the National Guard.

He earned degrees in social work and psychology from Weber and Utah State universities.

"He was a good man," Dustin Huntzinger said. "Anybody can have bad cards dealt to them and have some illness sometimes." He didn't elaborate.

George Huntzinger lived most recently in Evanston, Wyo., where he was also employed as a social worker, his son said. He retired several years ago and returned to Utah shortly after that.

Huntzinger periodically donated his time at the George E. Wahlen Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Salt Lake City. Spokeswoman Jill Atwood said Huntzinger made coffee for veterans in the hospital's waiting

room and made sure they were comfortable before seeing the doctor. He last volunteered in December 2008 and stopped by to help about eight times in the past year or two, she said.

Linda Huntzinger said Monday she knows now what was troubling her husband and what led to his shooting spree. But she declined to elaborate.

"It's totally unpredictable of anything George would have ever done," she said. "He's not the ugly person that happened Friday."

Linda Huntzinger said the couple were married for 17 years but were going through a divorce. Court records show Linda Huntzinger filed for divorce earlier this month.

Investigators still don't have a clear picture why George Huntzinger fired at the SWAT team, said Salt Lake County sheriff's Lt. Don Hutson on Monday. They have interviewed members of his family but believe there is only speculation as to why he did what he did, Hutson said.

The shooting occurred Friday afternoon when Huntzinger fired randomly with a shotgun from his third-floor balcony in the Cottonwood Apartments, in the 1000 East block of 4700 South in Millcreek. A SWAT team responded to reports of shots fired about 3 p.m. and a 40-minute standoff ensued.

Huntzinger was shot and killed by a SWAT officer after negotiations with authorities failed. He had fired at least eight rounds, said Salt Lake County Sheriff Jim Winder.