SEQUIM — A Sequim man was arrested early Wednesday morning after allegedly shooting at a person on South Barr Road and brandishing a gun at another.
No injuries were reported, police say.
Keith Roberson, 55, was arrested and booked into the Clallam County jail for investigation of two counts of assault in the first degree after allegedly firing a 9mm semi-automatic handgun at one South Barr Road resident and pointing the firearm at another.
Roberson is being held on no bond, meaning he cannot post bail. The case will be forwarded to the Clallam County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office for a formal charging decision.
According to the Clallam County Sheriff’s Office, at about 4:12 a.m., deputies were dispatched to the area of Barr Road near U.S. Highway 101 after receiving reports of a suspicious person prowling the neighborhood.
One caller reported there was a male on his porch crying and asking for police, saying he was being chased through the woods.
Within minutes, dispatch received other calls reporting the sounds of shots fired.
One caller in the 400 block of South Barr Road said he had heard a man yelling for help after hearing a gunshot.
Believing the cry for help was from a neighbor, the man ran to help.
When the man approached whom he believed to be his neighbor, he was confronted by Roberson, deputies say.
Roberson allegedly aimed and fired the gun at the victim from about 40 feet away, missing the man by about 8 feet. The bullet left a large hole in a nearby fence.
The victim “left and returned to his house,” Brian King, chief criminal deputy for the Sheriff’s Office, said Wednesday.
“He got out of Dodge. He was on the phone with the 9-1-1 operators . . . when the shot was fired, and he walked the 9-1-1 operators through the event” as it unfolded.
After the shot was fired, Roberson apparently approached a neighboring home and knocked on the front door, King said.
“He is kind of going from house to house and checking doors,” King said.
At that time, a resident in the 300 block of South Barr Road reported he had heard a knock at his door, followed by a man — also identified by deputies as Roberson — entering his house through the door.
After asking the homeowner for help, Roberson allegedly pointed the handgun at the resident, stating, “If I’m going out, I’m not going out alone,” the man told deputies.
The homeowner “actually tried to negotiate with [Roberson],” King said, because grandchildren were staying in the home at the time.
“We are really fortunate that at the moment [Roberson] entered that house and ended up brandishing the firearm that there wasn’t a shootout right there,” King said.
“The homeowner didn’t arm himself, but there were certainly residents in the area that were armed, and we are fortunate that we are not dealing with some type of homicide investigation at this point.”
Several sheriff’s deputies and officers from Sequim and Port Angeles police departments responded to the residence and found Roberson in the carport, King said.
Roberson was armed with the handgun when contacted by officers, King said.
Deputies and officers started a “tactical dialogue” with Roberson to negotiate his peaceful surrender, King said.
After several minutes of negotiations, he surrendered the weapon and was taken into custody.
Roberson, believed by deputies to be under the influence of controlled substances, was taken to the emergency room at Olympic Medical Center where he was evaluated and cleared for incarceration.
Roberson’s “behavior was indicative of a stimulant-type drug,” King said.
Sheriff Bill Benedict and King commended the deputies and officers involved for their tact, calm and restraint used in negotiating Roberson’s surrender.
“This was an individual who was under the influence of controlled substances and was acting very schizophrenic and erratic,” King said. “In those type of situations, deputies have to show tremendous restraint with an armed individual who has already shot at [another] individual. We are certainly happy that no residents in that area were harmed by his actions.”
Deputies believe Roberson was a transient living in a van in the area, King said, and that the van might be connected with a separate disturbance earlier Wednesday also being investigated by deputies.
“His van was located in the area and towed by deputies,” King said. “It was blocking a driveway. Our investigation is going to start stemming toward why was he in that neighborhood in the first place.”
Deputies were in the process of obtaining a warrant to search the van Wednesday, King said.
Deputies and sheriff’s detectives continue their investigation, King said.
“We have a couple of other possible potential victims out there we are continuing to contact. Some people, because it was early morning, had to go to work,” he said.
The Sheriff’s Office encourages anyone with information about this incident to call Detective Shaun Minks at 360-417-2208.
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Reporter Chris McDaniel can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 56650, or cmcdaniel@peninsuladailynews.com.
