A confrontation between neighbors in Pacific County south of Grayland was resolved without violence Thursday after a brief standoff.

The initial call came in of a neighborly dispute, with threats involving a firearm, came in at about 8:45 a.m. Thursday morning, said Chief Criminal Deputy Randy Wiegardt of the Pacific County Sheriff’s Office.

Deputies were enroute shortly thereafter, Wiegardt said, headed to the corner of the county, just a mile or two from the border with Grays Harbor County.

“It’s pretty far out there. It did take us a little bit of time,” Wiegardt said. “He staged in the area, just because there’s a firearm involved. We had a Shoalwater officer respond as well.”

The deputy met with the reporting party, Wiegardt said, who was described as frantic. Deputies attempted to contact the man allegedly making the threats, Wiegardt said, who had a holstered sidearm.

“He was belligerent, didn’t want to talk to us,” Wiegardt said. “Immediately, we tried to deescalate, talk to him, have a cordial conversation. He wasn’t having it.”

The man eventually retreated to his residence, Wiegardt said, as more law enforcement assets were being called up, with personnel from the Shoalwater Bay tribal police, Grays Harbor County Sheriff’s Office, Department of Fish and Wildlife, Washington State Parks and Washington State Patrol all responding.

“The original suspect was a vet. He’s been through some stuff,” Wiegardt said. “The huge show of force really triggered him.”

Law enforcement personnel pulled back to give the man space, and eventually things calmed down to a point where he came to talk to a detective from the Pacific County Sheriff’s Office. Many of the assets and personnel enroute were able to be called off before arriving at the scene.

“The detective met with our suspect at fence line,” Wiegardt said. “We ended up speaking with the guy. He ended up providing evidence that didn’t line up with the original claim. Ultimately we didn’t arrest the guy because of the evidence he had.”

Wiegardt said he was proud of the work done to stop the situation from having a tragic outcome.

“I’m super proud of our guys for how they deescalated the situation,” Wiegardt said. “Ultimately (the detective) was able to walk side by side with the guy.”

Wiegardt thanked all the other departments for their assistance.

“Everybody really helped out. State Patrol really stepped up. Our dispatch was having technical difficulties,” Wiegardt said. “They were on the spot. They did a really good job.”

Wiegardt thanked the public for heeding the alerts put out by emergency management as the sheriff’s office worked to handle the situation.

“The community did a good job of steering clear of it,” Wiegardt said. “It goes a long way so we’re not multitasking and going from dealing with a citizen to back to the suspect.”

Contact Senior Reporter Michael S. Lockett at 757-621-1197 or michael.lockett@thedailyworld.com.