Forest Service officer, suspect dead after shootings

KOMO/4 STAFF

SEQUIM -- A U.S. Forest Service officer was shot and killed on the Olympic Peninsula Saturday afternoon while on duty after reporting a suspicious van, and the suspected gunman was killed hours later.

Troopers say Kristine Fairbanks, a 15-year veteran of the Forest Service, was working on Forest Road 2880, off Palo Alto Road, near Sequim when she radioed the State Patrol at about 2:40 p.m. to report a suspicious van and to ask for information.

When the State Patrol radioed back, they received no response. Troopers were immediately dispatched to the scene, located about five miles inside the Olympic National Forest.

When troopers arrived, they found Fairbanks dead from a gunshot wound. The van was nowhere in sight. Sheriff's deputies say Fairbanks had a police dog with her at the time of the shooting, and the dog was found unharmed in Fairbanks' vehicle.

Investigators found the van empty later in the evening, and the suspected gunman was shot to death about 9:30 p.m., State Patrol spokeswoman Krista D. Hedstrom said.

The suspect was identified as 36-year-old Shawn Matthew Roe.