Law enforcement officials are investigating a homicide in the 100 block of Senz Road in Sequim in connection with a suspect involved in a Thursday morning incident in downtown Sequim.
In what law enforcement officials said started with a routine police stop on Thursday, May 19, a Sequim Police Department officer and a suspect — now in custody — were injured.
At 4:31 a.m., a Sequim Police Officer conducted a traffic stop near the intersection of West Washington Street and North Third Avenue, according to Cpt. Randy Plumb of the Bremerton Police Department, who is overseeing the investigation.
Initial indications are that at some point during the traffic stop, a firearm was discharged, Plumb said.
The stop “rapidly escalated and became physical, which then led to gun shots,” City of Sequim attorney Kristina Nelson-Gross said in a city press release.
Two Clallam County Sheriff’s Deputies responded to the scene to assist the Sequim officer, and investigators later learned several citizens also assisted the officer.
Both the suspect and the Sequim officer — neither of whom have been identified — sustained non-life threatening injuries and were treated and released from the Olympic Medical Center.
Cpt. Mike Davis with the Bremerton Police Department said he could not confirm or deny if anyone was shot in the incident.
At about 8:40 a.m., Clallam County law enforcement received a request for a welfare check on a woman in the 100 block of Senz Road; investigators learned this is the suspect’s residence. Officers with the Port Angeles Police Department checked the residence and found a deceased woman. Law enforcement is investigating the death of the woman as a homicide, Plumb said in a press release Thursday evening.
Bret Allen Kenney, 34, was booked into Clallam County Jail at 6 p.m. Thursday night. A court appearance was not set by Thursday evening.
Incident response team leads investigation
Nelson-Gross noted that any officer-involved significant use of force incident that includes any with shots fired results in an Independent Investigative Team taking over the investigation.
“Once the Sequim Police Department were notified this incident met those parameters, the Kitsap Critical Incident Response Team IIT Commander was notified,” Nelson-Gross said. “Their team is on scene and has taken over this investigation, and the City no longer has any involvement in the process.”
The Kitsap Critical Incident Response Team is a multi-agency investigative team comprised of 10 law enforcement agencies in Kitsap, Mason and Clallam counties.
Neither the Sequim Police Department nor the Clallam County Sheriff’s Office will be involved in this investigation, Plumb said.
This story is developing; check back here at sequimgazette.com for more information.
