GRANT COUNTY, Wash. — The man who allegedly shot at federal agents during a drug bust before shooting himself has been identified as 47-year-old Patrick Pearson of Moses Lake.
Pearson remains hospitalized at Sacred Heart, according to Grant County Sheriff's Office spokesperson Kyle Foreman. A U.S. District Court arraignment hearing on federal drug charges for Pearson was held at the hospital on Thursday due to his medical condition.
Foreman said Pearson is not yet facing any charges locally in the shooting because the investigation into the incident is ongoing – but he would likely be charged with first-degree assault.
Pearson has an extensive criminal history and Is “well-known to law enforcement” in Grant County, Foreman said.
“He’s one of the guys that we know by name,” Foreman added.
Pearson was involved in a shooting in 2018 where he was injured during an exchange of gunfire. Foreman was unsure if Pearson faced charges related to that incident.
Pearson also was sentenced to five years in prison on a second-degree burglary conviction after he broke into Grant County Animal Outreach, Foreman said.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Drug Enforcement Administration and U.S. Border Patrol were conducting a large-scale enforcement action targeting a meth and heroin trafficking organization in central and eastern Washington, according to the Grant County Sheriff’s Office.
During one of the operations, two ATF special agents were injured at a home in the Mae Valley community.
Foreman said both agents were hit with bullet shrapnel and were wearing bulletproof vests.
A federal grant jury in eastern Washington returned an indictment on July 10 charging 16 people for conspiracy to distribute meth and heroin as a result of the investigation, DEA officials said.
Pearson’s name was among those included in the indictment.
