SEATTLE — The three vehicles involved in a Saturday morning shootout on U.S. Highway 101 were being processed Thursday at the State Patrol Crime Laboratory in Seattle.
Meanwhile, the condition of James Edward Sweet, 36, a Port Angeles man who was shot and has been arrested for investigation of attempted murder of a police officer, was upgraded Wednesday to stable at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, State Patrol Detective Rodney Green said Thursday.
Sweet was shot several times after an attempted traffic stop.
Green said the four law enforcement officers involved in the 10 a.m. Saturday shootout at the heavily trafficked Highway 101-Monroe Road intersection would likely be interviewed next week.
“We want to let them settle down, and they actually will recall more,” Green said.
“It’s not a natural act to shoot a human being.
“A lot of studies show that there are things that you recall that you don’t the day after because it’s a traumatic experience.
“We’ll get there. It’s just a matter of time.”
Green, the lead investigator in the case, said Sweet was in the custody of the state Department of Corrections, whose personnel were guarding the convicted felon under an agreement with State Patrol.
Green said the Crime Laboratory on Thursday was processing the police vehicle driven by Port Angeles Police Officer Whitney Fairbanks, one of the officers.
Fairbanks, 22, a Forks High School graduate who joined the Port Angeles department about a year ago, tried to stop Sweet for a suspected traffic violation near Golf Course Road at about 9:47 a.m. Saturday before he raced away at about 60 mph, authorities said.
Green said Crime Lab personnel also were processing Sweet’s vehicle, which he drove to the Highway 101-Monroe Road intersection about a mile from where Fairbanks tried to initiate the traffic stop, as well as a vehicle police said Sweet crashed into at that intersection.
Driver unhurt
Police said the driver of that vehicle was unhurt.
Police say Sweet began firing at Fairbanks when he exited his car.
He allegedly ran to the nearby corner of Les Schwab Tire Center at Highway 101-East Pioneer Road.
Authorities said he continued firing what police said was a revolver, which he was not allowed to possess as a convicted felon.
Sweet had been sentenced to 22 months in prison after pleading guilty in December 2014 to attempting to elude a pursuing police vehicle and possession of a controlled substance.
Fairbanks was joined by Officer Dallas Maynard and Cpl. Kori Malone of the Port Angeles Police Department and Clallam County Sheriff’s Sgt. Shaun Minks.
After he was shot multiple times, according to authorities, Sweet was transported to Olympic Medical Center before being helicoptered under guard to Harborview.
Green said that Sweet, too, will likely be interviewed by authorities next week.
Green would not discuss findings of the investigation.
He said more information might be made available after he meets Monday with representatives of the Port Angeles Police Department and the county Sheriff’s Office and Prosecuting Attorney’s Office.
Daughter of slain officer
Fairbanks 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.
Smith said Whitney Fairbanks graduated with a criminal justice degree in June 2015 from Washington State University, where she also was an intern with the WSU Police Department.
Fairbanks was hired by the Port Angeles Police Department in June, graduated from the Basic Law Enforcement Academy in Burien in September, completed her field training evaluation in January and began patrolling on her own in January.
Fairbanks was among several class of 2015 police academy students profiled by www.seattlepi.com in an Oct. 22, 2015, article.
Her father, Brian Fairbanks, is a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service sergeant.
“This is what I always wanted to do,” Whitney Fairbanks said in the interview.
“They’re gonna look at me as the kid who doesn’t know what they’re doing,” she said, but “I have the knowledge to back up my actions,” according to the article.
“I know I’m out there doing a good thing.”
Fairbanks, Maynard, Malone and Minks have been placed on temporary administrative leave.
“Best practice is two weeks after a shooting,” Smith said.
“We don’t have a set time when they have to come back.”
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Senior Staff Writer Paul Gottlieb can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 55650, or at pgottlieb@peninsuladailynews.com.
