SEQUIM — A Sequim man was arrested today after allegedly brandishing a shotgun during a 45-minute standoff with police at his home on West Deytona Street.
No injuries were reported and the man was arrested following successful negotiations, Deputy Bill Cortani of the Clallam County Sheriff’s Office said today.
Jonathan Sweeney, 29, was booked into jail today on an outstanding warrant for failing to comply with a court order and could face additional charges including threatening on officer, assault and brandishing a weapon, Cortani said.
“We are still actively doing the investigation,” he said.
Sweeney’s residence in the 100 block is one block north of Sequim Middle School, which was not locked down during the incident, Patsene Dashiell, Sequim School District director of communications, said today.
There were at least three other individuals in the home during the standoff, including Sweeney’s grandfather, his girlfriend and a juvenile, said Chief Deputy Brian King of the Clallam County Sheriff’s Office.
Their identities were not released.
Sweeney is his grandfather’s caretaker, Cortani said.
Information about Sweeney’s relation to the juvenile was not available.
Deputies were able to remove the other residents during negotiations, King said.
No hostages
“It wasn’t a hostage situation,” he said. “It was . . . a barricaded subject in the house. He wasn’t holding people hostage.”
Deputies initially responded to the home at about 12:15 p.m. Sunday after receiving a report Sweeney had allegedly assaulted his uncle, who was visiting from out of town.
His uncle has not been identified.
“It was a family dispute,” Cortani said. “We came here to investigate that yesterday.”
Sweeney was not located on the premises at the time, so deputies left and returned later in the evening to follow up on the investigation, but again “weren’t able to find him,” Cortani said.
At about 6:50 a.m. today, deputies received a report from a family member indicating Sweeney had returned to the residence, Cortani said.
“We had another family relative from out of the area call and say [Sweeney] is home now based on his Facebook” status, he said.
“We didn’t come immediately because we [were] still putting our investigation from [Sunday] together, so we wanted to make sure we had all our ducks in a row.”
And “it is what we called a third party report,” Cortani said. “There was no actual proof he was here. We were basing it off Facebook.”
Deputies return
At about 9:50 a.m. today, deputies returned to the home and made contact with Sweeney’s girlfriend, Cortani said.
“She wouldn’t let us in and said he wasn’t here,” he said.
Deputies were later able to convince her “to let us come in because relatives had called and there was also a concern about grandpa’s welfare,” Cortani said.
At that time, Sweeney “jumped out of the doorway under the porch, armed with a shotgun, and said he was going to ‘blast us’ if we didn’t get off his property,” Cortani said.
“As soon as I saw him come out of the door with a shotgun, I alerted” fellow deputies “to the gun, we backed off, and started communications with him,” he said.
Medical attention
During negotiations, Sweeney was insistent his grandfather receive immediate medical attention, Cortani said.
“We were adamant that we could not provide that attention until we know it is safe and that aid will not come into a hot zone,” he said.
At about 10:35 a.m., Sweeney saw an ambulance crew staged nearby, and “came out and surrendered himself,” Cortani said.
“He was pushing his grandpa in a wheelchair, brought him around to the back and then he surrendered.”
Deputies remained on scene into the afternoon to secure the shotgun and to gather evidence.
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Sequim-Dungeness Valley Editor Chris McDaniel can be reached at 360-681-2390, ext. 5052, or cmcdaniel@peninsuladailynews.com.
