A Sequim man who barricaded himself in a home in Carlsborg and fired numerous shots at law enforcement was arrested yesterday during an incident that forced the lock-down of Greywolf Elementary School and the evacuation of nearby neighbors for safety.

The incident began at 8:04 am Tuesday as Deputies responded to a home in the 200 block of Village Lane for a report of a man banging on windows in a residence in the area, saying he was the Messiah and had guns and ammunition, according to a Sheriff’s Office news release. 

The man, identified as 37-year-old Justin Cox, was known to law enforcement from multiple prior encounters. When Deputies arrived they contacted him at the residence as he was rambling and yelling about being the “Messiah.”  He refused to come out and talk to deputies.  Another man at the house said he believed he could calm Cox down. 

However, Cox suddenly produced an AK-47 style rifle threatening to shoot law enforcement from inside the home.  A perimeter was formed around the residence and Deputies began evacuating nearby residents for safety.

The Peninsula Crisis Response Team and crisis negotiators responded to the scene with two armored vehicles and began negotiations. They told him over a loudspeaker he was under arrest for unlawful possession of a firearm was given instructions to safely surrender.

Shortly after 11 am, he began firing shots through the front door of the home, striking one of the armored vehicles and a neighboring house.  Crisis Response Team members were inside the armored vehicle when it was struck by bullets.  It’s estimated as many as 25-30 rounds were fired towards law enforcement.  Ultimately, the armored vehicle breached a window and chemical munitions were deployed and Cox fled from the back of the home. He was apprehended while running through neighboring property and booked into the Clallam County jail where he is being held on charges of first and second degree assault, unlawful possession of a firearm, resisting arrest and obstructing a law enforcement officer.