Maurice Clemmons, the suspect wanted in slaying of four Lakewood police officers, was shot and killed in South Seattle early this morning. Clemmons, who reportedly was armed with a gun from one of officers he is accused of killing, was standing outside in the 4400 block of South Kenyon Street when he was confronted by officers. He challenged the officers and was shot around 2:40 a.m. The officer came upon a car that was running and reportedly stolen. The officer got out of his car and detected someone walking up behind him. The officer got out of his car. Recognized the person behind him as Clemmons. Ordered him to stop and show his hands. He would not. Clemmons was subsequently shot. More details about the shooting will be coming shortly. No police were injured in the incident.
Jessica Breznau, who lives near the shooting scene, said she came outside after the shots were fired and saw police. "One of policemen took me aside and said, 'Let me tell you what's going on.' He was kind of emotional and he said, 'This is the guy who shot the people in Lakewood. He's gone.'" Breznau said the officer told her that Clemmons had a gun.
At the scene, a couple of dozen police officers milled around, shaking hands and patting each other on the back after one of the largest manhunts in the region's history. Sylvester Dennis, 50, lives in the area where Clemmons was killed and walked to the scene before 5 a.m. "Sounds like he got what he deserved. Those were police officers, man. You just can't just go around killing people," said Dennis, a truck driver who has lived in the area since he was 11.
Clemmons has been the focus of a manhunt since Sunday morning when he is accused of killing four Lakewood police officers in a coffee shop in Parkland. Police have said Clemmons received help since the Sunday morning shooting from friends and family who gave him places to stay, medical aid, rides and money, police said. Officers detained a sister of Clemmons who they think treated the 37-year-old suspect's gunshot wound. Police believe people close to Clemmons have misled officers, and Troyer said anyone helping him could face charges. Clemmons' sister wasn't in custody late Monday, and her name wasn't released.
Authorities said the gunman singled out the Lakewood officers and spared employees and other customers at the coffee shop in Parkland, a Tacoma suburb about 35 miles south of Seattle. He then fled, but not before he was apparently shot in the torso by one of the dying officers. Killed were Sgt. Mark Renninger, 39, and Officers Ronald Owens, 37, Tina Griswold, 40, and Greg Richards, 42.
Police said they aren't sure what prompted Clemmons to shoot the officers as they did paperwork on their laptops. Clemmons was described as increasingly erratic in the past few months and had been arrested earlier this year on charges that he punched a sheriff's deputy in the face.
Pierce County Sheriff Office spokesman Ed Troyer told the Tacoma News-Tribune that Clemmons indicated the night before the shooting "that he was going to shoot police and watch the news."
Police surrounded a house in a Seattle neighborhood late Sunday following a tip Clemmons had been dropped off there. After an all-night siege, a SWAT team entered the home and found it empty, but police said Clemmons had been there.
Police frantically chased leads on Monday, searching multiple spots in the Seattle and Tacoma area and at one point cordoning off a park where people thought they saw Clemmons.
Authorities found a handgun carried by the killer, along with a pickup belonging to the suspect with blood stains inside. They posted a $125,000 reward for information leading to Clemmons' arrest and alerted hospitals to be on the lookout for a man seeking treatment for gunshot wounds.
01 December 2009
Got one
Rico says they found and, after a 'confrontation', whacked Maurice Clemmons, according to an article by Jennifer Sullivan, Mark Rahner, and Jack Broom in The Seattle Times:
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