3 dead in Olympic Peninsula shooting spree
By KING5.com Staff and Associated Press, September 21, 2008 [here]
SEQUIM, Wash. - A traffic stop in the woods in Clallam County Saturday led to the shooting death of a U.S. Forest Service officer, a shootout in which a fugitive was killed and the discovery of a third gunshot victim at the home of the owner of a pickup truck he was driving, the Washington State Patrol said.
It happened at about 2:40 p.m. on Forest Service Road 2880 outside of Sequim.
The officer, identified as Kris Fairbanks, 51, a certified canine officer with 15 years in the forest service, was checking on a van that didn’t have license plates, according to Krista Hedstrom, a spokesperson for Washington State Patrol. Fairbanks ran some data through state patrol dispatch, but then didn’t respond to any calls.
Deputies and state troopers responded to that area and found the officer dead. The van was no longer there.
State troopers began looking for a red or grey older Dodge van with no plates.
The suspect was identified as Shawn M. Roe, 36, whose last known address was in Everett and before that in Shelton.
Authorities found the van about 6:30 p.m., abandoned not far away in a densely wooded area, and posters and flyers warning people to be on the lookout for Roe were distributed around the Sequim area.
At 9:30 p.m., Hedstrom said, a security guard at the Longhouse Market and Deli near the Seven Cedars Casino on U.S. Highway 101 east of Sequim alerted sheriff’s deputies that a man meeting the suspect’s description was in the convenience store.
Two deputies arrived and told the suspect to put up his hands as he came out of the store, but he drew at least one handgun and fired at least once before both deputies opened fire, Hedstrom said. Neither deputy was hit.
Hedstrom describes Roe as a convicted felon with “an active criminal history” who was supposed to be under state Corrections Department supervision. Details of his crimes and supervision have not been released, but Hedstrom says he apparently was not being sought on any warrant. She says he was carrying with two modern handguns and an older six-shooter when he died.
Investigators checked the registration of a white pickup Roe was seen driving when he arrived at the store, went to the house of the registered owner, located between the store and the campground, and found the body of a man who had been shot, Hedstrom said.
The third shooting victim was described only as a man in his 60s.
No one else was known to be hurt in the shootings, Hedstrom said.
“We’re just hoping that nobody else shows up” dead or injured, she said.
Fairbanks leaves behind a teenage daughter and her husband, who is a Fish and Wildlife officer.