PORT ANGELES — A Port Angeles man who allegedly initiated a gunfight with law enforcement officers over Memorial Day weekend is recovering from at least four gunshot wounds, interim Police Chief Brian Smith said Monday.
Sweet, 36, a convicted felon under arrest for investigation of attempted murder of a police officer, is in stable condition at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, Smith said.
Sweet is being treated for injuries to the chest, stomach, thigh and arm or hand.
Smith said at least 20 shots were fired at the intersection of U.S. Highway 101 at Monroe Road at about 10 a.m. May 28 by Sweet and four officers.
The officers fired back at Sweet from 30-40 feet away as the Port Angeles resident took cover at the grassy corner of Highway 101 and East Pioneer Way, Smith said.
He said those shots began with Sweet firing from inside his car at Police Officer Whitney Fairbanks, who fired back and hit Sweet from inside her car from about 6 feet away before he climbed out his window and ran.
The shootout snarled traffic for several hours, backing up westbound vehicles for miles on Highway 101 while drivers snaked around nearby Les Schwab Tire Center, keeping the road clear so law enforcement authorities could gather evidence.
Smith and Brian King, Clallam County Sheriff’s Office chief criminal deputy, said a preliminary investigative report on the shootout would be given by Friday to county Prosecuting Attorney Mark Nichols for his review.
The investigation is far from over, said State Patrol Detective Rodney Green, who met Monday with Smith and King to review the case.
“I’m in the middle of this thing right now,” Green said.
The shootout was precipitated about 10 minutes earlier after Fairbanks tried to stop Sweet for a traffic violation at 9:47 a.m., Smith said.
Failed to yield
Smith said Sweet had failed to yield for a stop sign while he turned from a cross-street near the McDonald’s restaurant eastbound onto Highway 101.
Sweet allegedly sped east after Fairbanks tried to stop him, reaching about 60 mph in a 45-mph zone, before crashing into a vehicle about a mile away at the Monroe Road intersection.
The driver of the vehicle was unhurt.
Smith said when Fairbanks reached him, she pinned her bumper against his front door.
“We know he fired two rounds in her direction from inside the car,” he said.
The bullets fired by Sweet hit inside the door of his car, Smith said.
“There was no evidence he was surrendering or stopping,” Smith said.
“The officer engaged him and retreated to a defensive position behind her car.
“At some point, while that was happening, he came out of his vehicle.
“He comes out the driver’s window on the hood of the police car.”
Smith said Fairbanks apparently shot Sweet while Sweet was in his car.
“He left his blood on the hood of her car,” Smith said.
Others involved
After Sweet ran, Fairbanks was joined by Officer Dallas Maynard and Cpl. Kori Malone, both of the Port Angeles Police Department, and Clallam County Sheriff’s Sgt. Shawn Minks.
“The other officers arrived almost immediately,” Smith said.
Smith said they all fired their weapons.
Sweet fired a total of five rounds from his revolver.
No officers were injured by gunfire.
King said at least 20 witnesses have been interviewed in the investigation.
Fairbanks, 22, is the daughter of U.S. Forest Service K9 Officer Kristine Fairbanks, who was shot to death while on duty Sept. 20, 2008, at the Dungeness Forks Campground south of Sequim.
“She’s doing great,” Smith said.
Fairbanks and the other officers are on paid administrative leave until at least mid-June, Smith and King said.
Sweet remains detained at Harborview under a warrant issued by the state Department of Corrections, DOC spokesman Jeremy Barclay said Monday in an email.
Sweet had been sentenced to 22 months in prison and a year of community custody after pleading guilty Dec. 26, 2014, in Clallam County Superior Court to two felonies, according to court records: possession of a controlled substance and attempting to elude a pursuing police vehicle.
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Senior Staff Writer Paul Gottlieb can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 55650, or at pgottlieb@peninsuladailynews.com.
