Police: Clemmons had slain officer's gun when shot
SEATTLE - The man suspected of gunning down four police officers in a suburban coffee shop was shot and killed by Seattle police early Tuesday, a sheriff's spokesman said.
Maurice Clemmons was shot to death around 2:40 a.m. on Kenyon Street outside a home in South Seattle.
Seattle Police Assistant Chief Jim Pugel said a Seattle police officer on patrol in South Seattle came upon an unoccupied running car that had been reported stolen earlier in the night.
As the officer radioed in the license plate and began his investigation of the stolen car, he noticed someone behind his police cruiser. The officer got out and recognized the person as Clemmons, Pugel said.
The officer ordered the person to stop and show his hands, but the man did not comply and began to run away around the vehicle.
The officer fired several rounds and struck the man, gravely wounding him.
Seattle medics responded and loaded the wounded man into an ambulance, but he was pronounced dead a short time later. Officers later confirmed the man was Clemmons.
Pugel said Clemmons had a gun on him that was traced back to one stolen from one of the killed officers at the Lakewood coffee shop.
The Seattle officer was not hurt in Tuesday morning's shooting.
Pugel has not identified him, except to say he is a seven-year veteran of the force. The officer has been placed on administrative leave as per standard policy. Police are also talking to two witnesses to the event.
Pugel said police are unsure why Clemmons was in that neighborhood and as of yet, have not connected him to any home in the area.
In addition to Clemmons, three other people were arrested overnight for aiding and abetting in Clemmons' escape, said Pierce County Sheriff's Department spokesman Ed Troyer.
One of those included the driver of the getaway vehicle in the original shooting, and Troyer said he expects more arrests Tuesday.
Troyer said the people in custody allegedly tried to hide Clemmons, moved him from location to location, provided him with cell phones and money, and was helping him make arrangements to leave the state.
"They are going to pay for it," Troyer said.
Authorities say Clemmons, 37, killed the four Lakewood officers at a coffee shop Sunday morning in Parkland, a Tacoma suburb about 35 miles south of Seattle.
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.
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.
Clemmons had stayed on the run for nearly two days with help from a network of friends and family who gave him places to stay, medical aid, rides and money, police said. Troyer told Fox News police arrested three people overnight on suspicion of rendering criminal assistance.
On Monday, officers detained a sister of Clemmons who they think treated the suspect's gunshot wound.
"We believe she drove him up to Seattle and bandaged him up," Troyer said.
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. 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.
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 truck 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.
"We need to get him into custody and we need to end this," Troyer said Monday night.
Authorities in two states were criticized amid revelations that Clemmons was allowed to walk the streets despite a teenage crime spree in Arkansas that landed him an 108-year prison sentence.
He was released early after then-Gov. Mike Huckabee commuted his sentence.
Huckabee cited Clemmons' youth in granting the request. But Clemmons quickly reverted to his criminal past, violated his parole and was returned to prison. He was released again in 2004.
"This guy should have never been on the street," said Brian D. Wurts, president of the police union in Lakewood. "Our elected officials need to find out why these people are out."
Huckabee said on Fox News Channel's "The O'Reilly Factor" Monday night that Clemmons was allowed back on the street because prosecutors failed to file paperwork in time.
Pulaski County Prosecutor Larry Jegley, whose office opposed Clemmons' parole in 2000 and 2004, said Huckabee's comments were "red herrings."
"My word to Mr. Huckabee is man up and own what you did," Jegley said.
Clemmons was charged in Washington state earlier this year with assaulting a police officer and raping a child, and investigators in the sex case said he was motivated by visions that he was Jesus Christ and that the world was on the verge of the apocalypse.
But he was released from jail after posting bail with the assistance of Jail Sucks Bail Bonds.
Documents related to those charges indicate a volatile personality. In one instance, he is accused of gathering his wife and young relatives and forcing them to undress.
"The whole time Clemmons kept saying things like trust him, the world is going to end soon, and that he was Jesus," a Pierce County sheriff's report said.
More Lakewood News
Maurice Clemmons was shot to death around 2:40 a.m. on Kenyon Street outside a home in South Seattle.
Seattle Police Assistant Chief Jim Pugel said a Seattle police officer on patrol in South Seattle came upon an unoccupied running car that had been reported stolen earlier in the night.
As the officer radioed in the license plate and began his investigation of the stolen car, he noticed someone behind his police cruiser. The officer got out and recognized the person as Clemmons, Pugel said.
The officer ordered the person to stop and show his hands, but the man did not comply and began to run away around the vehicle.
The officer fired several rounds and struck the man, gravely wounding him.
Seattle medics responded and loaded the wounded man into an ambulance, but he was pronounced dead a short time later. Officers later confirmed the man was Clemmons.
Pugel said Clemmons had a gun on him that was traced back to one stolen from one of the killed officers at the Lakewood coffee shop.
The Seattle officer was not hurt in Tuesday morning's shooting.
Pugel has not identified him, except to say he is a seven-year veteran of the force. The officer has been placed on administrative leave as per standard policy. Police are also talking to two witnesses to the event.
Pugel said police are unsure why Clemmons was in that neighborhood and as of yet, have not connected him to any home in the area.
In addition to Clemmons, three other people were arrested overnight for aiding and abetting in Clemmons' escape, said Pierce County Sheriff's Department spokesman Ed Troyer.
One of those included the driver of the getaway vehicle in the original shooting, and Troyer said he expects more arrests Tuesday.
Troyer said the people in custody allegedly tried to hide Clemmons, moved him from location to location, provided him with cell phones and money, and was helping him make arrangements to leave the state.
"They are going to pay for it," Troyer said.
Authorities say Clemmons, 37, killed the four Lakewood officers at a coffee shop Sunday morning in Parkland, a Tacoma suburb about 35 miles south of Seattle.
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.
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.
Clemmons had stayed on the run for nearly two days with help from a network of friends and family who gave him places to stay, medical aid, rides and money, police said. Troyer told Fox News police arrested three people overnight on suspicion of rendering criminal assistance.
On Monday, officers detained a sister of Clemmons who they think treated the suspect's gunshot wound.
"We believe she drove him up to Seattle and bandaged him up," Troyer said.
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. 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.
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 truck 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.
"We need to get him into custody and we need to end this," Troyer said Monday night.
Authorities in two states were criticized amid revelations that Clemmons was allowed to walk the streets despite a teenage crime spree in Arkansas that landed him an 108-year prison sentence.
He was released early after then-Gov. Mike Huckabee commuted his sentence.
Huckabee cited Clemmons' youth in granting the request. But Clemmons quickly reverted to his criminal past, violated his parole and was returned to prison. He was released again in 2004.
"This guy should have never been on the street," said Brian D. Wurts, president of the police union in Lakewood. "Our elected officials need to find out why these people are out."
Huckabee said on Fox News Channel's "The O'Reilly Factor" Monday night that Clemmons was allowed back on the street because prosecutors failed to file paperwork in time.
Pulaski County Prosecutor Larry Jegley, whose office opposed Clemmons' parole in 2000 and 2004, said Huckabee's comments were "red herrings."
"My word to Mr. Huckabee is man up and own what you did," Jegley said.
Clemmons was charged in Washington state earlier this year with assaulting a police officer and raping a child, and investigators in the sex case said he was motivated by visions that he was Jesus Christ and that the world was on the verge of the apocalypse.
But he was released from jail after posting bail with the assistance of Jail Sucks Bail Bonds.
Documents related to those charges indicate a volatile personality. In one instance, he is accused of gathering his wife and young relatives and forcing them to undress.
"The whole time Clemmons kept saying things like trust him, the world is going to end soon, and that he was Jesus," a Pierce County sheriff's report said.
More Lakewood News
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