Lakewood police officer shooting
Encyclopedia
The Lakewood police officer shooting took place on Sunday, November 29, 2009, when four Lakewood, Washington
police officer
s were murdered at a coffee shop in the Parkland
unincorporated area
of Pierce County, Washington
. One gunman, later identified as Maurice Clemmons
, entered the coffee shop, fired at the officers as they sat working on their laptop computers
preparing for their shifts, and then fled the scene. After a two-day manhunt that spanned several cities in the Puget Sound region
, the gunman was shot and killed by a Seattle Police Department
officer in south Seattle after refusing police orders to stop.
The shooting is believed to have been a targeted attack against police officers, and came less than a month after a Seattle police officer was murdered
and another injured under similar circumstances nearly 40 miles (64.4 km) to the north. Another shooting involving Pierce County sheriff's deputies occurred three weeks after in Eatonville, on December 21, when two deputies were shot and critically injured (one later died from his injuries) by a man, who was then shot dead. It is believed to be the most deadly attack on law enforcement in the state of Washington, and the deadliest attack on law enforcement in the United States since the March 21, 2009 shootings
that left four Oakland, California
police officers dead. The four were the first Lakewood police officers to be killed in the line of duty since the department's establishment in 2004.
Although the gunman was killed by police, six other people have been charged
in connection with the murders. All six are friends and family of Clemmons who allegedly aided him in escaping the scene and eluding capture. One was convicted in June 2010 and was sentenced to five years' imprisonment
. In December 2010, three of four accused suspects were found guilty of rendering criminal assistance. As of January 2011 the remaining suspects are awaiting trial.
. Clemmons had a violent criminal history, with at least five felony convictions in Arkansas and eight felony charges in Washington. In 2000, Clemmons had his 95-year sentence for aggravated robbery commuted
by then-Governor Mike Huckabee
and moved to Western Washington in 2004. In spring 2009, Clemmons was charged with rape of a child and third-degree assault on a police officer for punching a Pierce County sheriff's deputy in the face during a confrontation, and was let out of jail on those charges after posting a $150,000 bail
bond one week prior to the shootings.
-based company, to secure his release. Two other bail bond agencies had rejected Clemmons based on his history of failing to appear in court.
Clemmons failed to check in with his community corrections officer within 24 hours of his release as required, but nothing was done in response. On November 26, 2009, less than one week after Clemmons posted his bail bond, during a Thanksgiving
gathering at the home of Clemmons' aunt, Clemmons told several people he was angry about his Pierce County legal problems and that he planned to use a gun to murder police officers and others, including school children. He showed a gun to the people in the room and told them he had two others in his car and home. Clemmons said he planned to activate an alarm by removing a court-ordered ankle monitor
, then he would shoot the police officers who responded to his house. In describing the planned murder, Clemmons said, "Knock, knock, knock, boom!" Darcus Allen, a convicted murderer who previously served in a Arkansas prison with Clemmons, was allegedly present for the conversation. Also on Thanksgiving, Clemmons cut off a GPS monitor Jail Sucks Bail Bonds had secured onto his ankle. On November 28, Clemmons showed two handguns to friends Eddie and Douglas Davis and told them he planned to shoot police officers with them; the exchange was witnessed by Clemmons' half-brother Rickey Hinton, with whom he shared a house. During the exchange, Clemmons danced around with the guns in his hands, claiming to be Lucifer
. He told the men he had twice tried to go to a Tacoma police station, where he planned to walk in and start shooting. The first time the station was closed, and the second time he got a flat tire on the way there, Clemmons claimed. He also talked about stopping at a crowded intersection or a school and shooting people there.
prior to the start of their shift inside a Forza Coffee Company coffee shop in nearby Parkland
, adjacent to McChord Air Force Base. All four were in full uniform, armed, and wearing bulletproof vest
s.
Clemmons drove a white pickup truck to Allen's home, then Allen drove him past the coffee shop. After they saw marked police patrol cars in the parking lot, Allen drove back past the coffee shop and parked nearby. Some reports from witnesses said Clemmons parked his truck in a car wash stall at the coffee shop and pretended to clean the vehicle, but never turned the hose on.
At approximately 8:15 AM (UTC-8
), Clemmons entered the coffee shop, approached the counter, turned around, and opened fire on the four seated officers with a semi-automatic handgun. Sgt. Mark Renniger and Officer Tina Griswold were killed as they sat in their chairs, both shot in the head. Officer Ronald Owens was shot in the neck as he stood up and attempted to draw his weapon. Officer Greg Richards managed to fight back against Clemmons and fired his own weapon, hitting Clemmons in the abdomen, before succumbing to a shot to the head. Clemmons then stole Richards's Glock
s before fleeing the scene. Clemmons was then seen getting into a vehicle which fled the scene. Neither of the two coffee shop employees nor the other customers in the store were hurt, and no money was taken from the cash register. Investigators say the murder was a targeted attack against police officers in general, since none of the four officers were individually targeted and robbery was ruled out as a motive. Clemmons returned to the truck and Allen drove him away. Allen later told detectives he stopped at an intersection and abandoned Clemmons and the truck, claiming he "wanted of no part of this". However, the police later disputed this claim and said there was no evidence Allen abandoned the vehicle.
and Washington, as the suspected murderer. Police confirmed that Clemmons had been shot in the abdomen during the attack, and advised hospitals to keep an eye out for walk-ins with gunshot wounds.
In the late evening hours of November 29, Seattle police
believed they had Clemmons surrounded in a home in the Leschi
area of Seattle. Along with air support provided by King County Sheriff's Office, SWAT team
s from the King County Sheriff's Office
, Seattle Police Department, Tacoma Police Department, and other agencies entered the home after a twelve-hour standoff but found no one inside. Earlier in the day, Tacoma police served a search warrant
on a Tacoma
home belonging to a "person of interest" and collected evidence. An intense manhunt ensued, and police from agencies in Pierce and King
Counties conducted searches at the University of Washington
campus, Rizal Park
, and in Renton
, none of which turned up the suspect. King County Sheriff's Deputies and Washington State Patrol
troopers, acting on a tip, were also conducting surveillance and going door to door at Snoqualmie Pass area homes, 50 miles (80.5 km) east of Seattle. A tip stated that Clemmons was going to be dropped off at Snoqualmie Pass to be handed off to another person to escape the region. After hours of investigating, the search was called off. The tip had been one of thousands of tips that came into local law enforcement agencies. Suspects in his escape later admitted that false tips were called in to sidetrack law enforcement officials.
parked on the street at 44th Place South and South Kenyon Street, unoccupied with its hood raised and the engine running. He ran the vehicle's license plate number and determined that it had been stolen
about two hours earlier. While sitting in his patrol car filling out paperwork in conjunction with the stolen vehicle, the officer noticed a person matching Clemmons' description approaching him from behind, first walking on the sidewalk and then in the middle of the street. Police accounts state that the officer confronted the suspect and ordered him to stop and show his hands, but the suspect instead began to flee around the disabled vehicle and reportedly "reached into his waist area and moved" as the officer was drawing his side arm
. The officer fired three shots at the suspect followed by another four shots as he ran away "in a dead sprint," striking him at least twice. The suspect managed to reach the sidewalk and collapsed face-down in a walkway leading to a home on Kenyon Street. The officer then retreated behind his patrol car, retrieved his shotgun
, and called for backup. Within seconds Seattle police swarmed the scene and a team of officers approached the suspect, handcuffed him, and dragged him away from the home. Seattle Fire Department
medics responded and pronounced the suspect dead at the scene. Seattle police later identified the deceased suspect as Clemmons. Clemmons was allegedly carrying a handgun that was identified by tracing the serial number as having belonged to Greg Richards, the cop who managed to shoot Clemmons before succumbing to his injuries,. Clemmons also had a prior gunshot wound
that had been stuffed with cotton and gauze and sealed with duct tape that the police determined was sustained in the Parkland shooting.
At the time of Clemmons' death, the police were offering a $145,000 reward for information leading to his arrest.
According to released documents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
in connection with a bank robbery
in Arkansas – served time with Clemmons in an Arkansas prison and is believed to have helped Clemmons escape the scene of the shooting. The other five are accused of providing assistance to Clemmons such as transporting him to several locations, providing him with money and cell phones, making arrangements for him to flee the state, and treating his gunshot wound sustained in the Parkland shooting, all with full knowledge of the crime he had committed. In June 2010 Clemmons' sister was sentenced to five years imprisonment for acting as a getaway driver after the shooting. Later in December, three of four other suspects were convicted. Trials of the other defendants are pending.
has received nationwide criticism for his role in Clemmons' release from prison in 2000. The evening of the shooting, Huckabee released a statement seeking to cast some of the responsibility for Clemmons' release onto the parole board that freed him and the criminal justice system that Huckabee said repeatedly failed to properly handle him. In his statement, Huckabee said, "Should he be found to be responsible for this horrible tragedy, it will be the result of a series of failures in the criminal justice system in both Arkansas and Washington State." Huckabee, who is considered a favorite for the Republican Party
presidential
nomination in 2012
, has claimed that the situation is being used as a political weapon against him. Clemmons has been compared to Willie Horton
, a convicted felon who was furlough
ed from a Massachusetts
prison in 1986 but never returned and committed more violent crimes several months later. The Horton case eventually factored in to the 1988
presidential campaign of Democratic Party
candidate Michael Dukakis
, who was Governor of Massachusetts
at the time and supported the furlough program. Timothy Egan
, opinion writer for The New York Times
, said of Huckabee's role in Clemmons' release, "If this case does not sink the presidential aspirations of Huckabee…it should."
The incident has also led some university professor
s, criminologists, and attorney
s to speculate that U.S. governors
will become more reluctant to grant pardon
s and clemencies to convicted felons, in order to avoid the negative publicity faced by Dukakis and Huckabee in the Horton and Clemmons cases, respectively.
. The day began with a 10 miles (16.1 km) procession from McChord Air Force Base past the Lakewood police station to the Tacoma Dome. Over 2,000 police and fire vehicles from over 150 different law enforcement and fire agencies participated in the procession, which took five hours to complete. Over 20,000 people, mostly from the law enforcement and firefighting communities, attended the service at the Tacoma Dome. Police officers from as far away as New York City
and Boston
, as well as a large contingent of Royal Canadian Mounted Police
officers, were in attendance. Lakewood's mayor and police chief gave remarks at the service, followed by eulogies
by family, friends, and colleagues of the four officers. Washington Governor Christine Gregoire
also spoke, saying, "We will remember them today. We will remember them always." The service concluded with a played recording of a police dispatcher attempting to call each officer with no response, and the dispatcher declaring each officer as "gone but not forgotten." The officers' remains were buried in private ceremonies by their individual families.
From a logistical standpoint, the agencies preparing for the memorial services expected 20,000 law enforcement personnel to appear at the service. One thousand emergency vehicles and police cruisers were set up to follow the families of the victims to the Tacoma Dome. Fifty people from several public agencies worked to make the event occur smoothly. Jody Woodcock, a program manager of the Pierce County Department of Emergency Management, said that the agencies planned to make the event look like it was easily prepared and that the authorities intend to "take care of all the details so the families and the law enforcement community don't have to think about them." Rob Carson of The Seattle Times
said, "Logistically, the event is staggering in its complexity." Alaska Airlines
gave airline tickets to family members who were going to the event and were flying into Seattle-Tacoma International Airport
from other states. The American Red Cross
donated food and water for the event.
Lakewood, Washington
Lakewood is a city in Pierce County, Washington, United States. The population was 58,163 at the 2010 census.-History:Lakewood was officially incorporated on February 28, 1996. Historical names include Lakewood Center and Lakes District...
police officer
Police officer
A police officer is a warranted employee of a police force...
s were murdered at a coffee shop in the Parkland
Parkland, Washington
Parkland is a census-designated place in Pierce County, Washington, United States. The population was 24,053 at the 2000 census and grew to 35,803 as of the 2010 census...
unincorporated area
Unincorporated area
In law, an unincorporated area is a region of land that is not a part of any municipality.To "incorporate" in this context means to form a municipal corporation, a city, town, or village with its own government. An unincorporated community is usually not subject to or taxed by a municipal government...
of Pierce County, Washington
Pierce County, Washington
right|thumb|[[Tacoma, Washington|Tacoma]] - Seat of Pierce CountyPierce County is the second most populous county in the U.S. state of Washington. Formed out of Thurston County on December 22, 1852, by the legislature of Oregon Territory...
. One gunman, later identified as Maurice Clemmons
Maurice Clemmons
Maurice Clemmons was an American felon who was responsible for the November 29, 2009, murder of four police officers in Parkland, Washington...
, entered the coffee shop, fired at the officers as they sat working on their laptop computers
Laptop
A laptop, also called a notebook, is a personal computer for mobile use. A laptop integrates most of the typical components of a desktop computer, including a display, a keyboard, a pointing device and speakers into a single unit...
preparing for their shifts, and then fled the scene. After a two-day manhunt that spanned several cities in the Puget Sound region
Puget Sound region
The Puget Sound region is an inland area of the Pacific Northwest in Washington , including Puget Sound, the Puget Sound lowlands, and the surrounding region roughly west of the Cascade Range and east of the Olympic Mountains.- History :...
, the gunman was shot and killed by a Seattle Police Department
Seattle Police Department
The Seattle Police Department is the principal law enforcement agency of the city of Seattle, Washington, except for the campus of the University of Washington, for which responsibility falls to the University of Washington Police Department...
officer in south Seattle after refusing police orders to stop.
The shooting is believed to have been a targeted attack against police officers, and came less than a month after a Seattle police officer was murdered
Murder of Timothy Brenton
The murder of Timothy Brenton occurred on October 31, 2009 in the Central District of Seattle, Washington, United States. Brenton, an officer with the Seattle Police Department, was seated in a parked patrol car with another officer discussing a traffic stop when a gunman stopped his vehicle...
and another injured under similar circumstances nearly 40 miles (64.4 km) to the north. Another shooting involving Pierce County sheriff's deputies occurred three weeks after in Eatonville, on December 21, when two deputies were shot and critically injured (one later died from his injuries) by a man, who was then shot dead. It is believed to be the most deadly attack on law enforcement in the state of Washington, and the deadliest attack on law enforcement in the United States since the March 21, 2009 shootings
2009 shooting of Oakland police officers
Two shootings of Oakland, California police officers took place on Saturday, March 21, 2009, when four officers were killed by a convicted felon wanted on a no-bail warrant for a parole violation...
that left four Oakland, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
police officers dead. The four were the first Lakewood police officers to be killed in the line of duty since the department's establishment in 2004.
Although the gunman was killed by police, six other people have been charged
Indictment
An indictment , in the common-law legal system, is a formal accusation that a person has committed a crime. In jurisdictions that maintain the concept of felonies, the serious criminal offence is a felony; jurisdictions that lack the concept of felonies often use that of an indictable offence—an...
in connection with the murders. All six are friends and family of Clemmons who allegedly aided him in escaping the scene and eluding capture. One was convicted in June 2010 and was sentenced to five years' imprisonment
Imprisonment
Imprisonment is a legal term.The book Termes de la Ley contains the following definition:This passage was approved by Atkin and Duke LJJ in Meering v Grahame White Aviation Co....
. In December 2010, three of four accused suspects were found guilty of rendering criminal assistance. As of January 2011 the remaining suspects are awaiting trial.
Victims
All four officers had been with the Lakewood Police Department since its establishment. They were:- SergeantSergeantSergeant is a rank used in some form by most militaries, police forces, and other uniformed organizations around the world. Its origins are the Latin serviens, "one who serves", through the French term Sergent....
Mark Renninger, 39, 13 years of law enforcement experience, died from a gunshot wound to the head. - Officer Ronald Owens, 37, 12 years of law enforcement experience, of PuyallupPuyallup, WashingtonPuyallup, Washington is a city in Pierce County, Washington about five miles east of Tacoma. The population was 37,022 at the 2010 Census. Named after the Puyallup Tribe of Native Americans, Puyallup means "the generous people."-History:...
, died from a gunshot wound to the neck. - Officer Tina Griswold, 40, 14 years of law enforcement experience, died from a gunshot wound to the head.
- Officer Greg Richards, 42, 8 years of law enforcement experience, of GrahamGraham, WashingtonGraham is a census-designated place in Pierce County, Washington, United States. The population was 8,739 at the 2000 census and grew to 23,491 at the 2010 census.-Geography:Graham is located at ....
, died from a gunshot wound to the head.
Suspect
The gunman was identified as 37-year-old Maurice Clemmons, originally from Marianna, ArkansasMarianna, Arkansas
Marianna is a city in and the county seat of Lee County, Arkansas, United States, along the L'Anguille River. The community was established by Col. Walter H. Otey in 1848 and was known as Walnut Ridge until 1852 when it became known as Marianna...
. Clemmons had a violent criminal history, with at least five felony convictions in Arkansas and eight felony charges in Washington. In 2000, Clemmons had his 95-year sentence for aggravated robbery commuted
Commutation of sentence
Commutation of sentence involves the reduction of legal penalties, especially in terms of imprisonment. Unlike a pardon, a commutation does not nullify the conviction and is often conditional. Clemency is a similar term, meaning the lessening of the penalty of the crime without forgiving the crime...
by then-Governor Mike Huckabee
Mike Huckabee
Michael "Mike" Dale Huckabee is an American politician who served as the 44th Governor of Arkansas from 1996 to 2007. He was a candidate in the 2008 United States Republican presidential primaries, finishing second in delegate count and third in both popular vote and number of states won . He won...
and moved to Western Washington in 2004. In spring 2009, Clemmons was charged with rape of a child and third-degree assault on a police officer for punching a Pierce County sheriff's deputy in the face during a confrontation, and was let out of jail on those charges after posting a $150,000 bail
Bail
Traditionally, bail is some form of property deposited or pledged to a court to persuade it to release a suspect from jail, on the understanding that the suspect will return for trial or forfeit the bail...
bond one week prior to the shootings.
Preceding the shooting
Clemmons' last arrest before the shooting was on July 1, 2009 for failure to appear in court. On November 23, 2009, Clemmons paid $15,000 for a $190,000 bail bond from Jail Sucks Bail Bonds, a ChehalisChehalis, Washington
Chehalis is a city in Lewis County, Washington, United States. The population was 7,259 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Lewis County.-History:...
-based company, to secure his release. Two other bail bond agencies had rejected Clemmons based on his history of failing to appear in court.
Clemmons failed to check in with his community corrections officer within 24 hours of his release as required, but nothing was done in response. On November 26, 2009, less than one week after Clemmons posted his bail bond, during a Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving (United States)
Thanksgiving, or Thanksgiving Day, is a holiday celebrated in the United States on the fourth Thursday in November. It has officially been an annual tradition since 1863, when, during the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed a national day of thanksgiving to be celebrated on Thursday,...
gathering at the home of Clemmons' aunt, Clemmons told several people he was angry about his Pierce County legal problems and that he planned to use a gun to murder police officers and others, including school children. He showed a gun to the people in the room and told them he had two others in his car and home. Clemmons said he planned to activate an alarm by removing a court-ordered ankle monitor
Ankle monitor
An ankle monitor is a device that individuals under house arrest are often required to wear. At timed intervals, the ankle monitor sends a radio frequency signal containing location and other information to a receiver. If an offender moves outside of an allowed range, the police will be notified...
, then he would shoot the police officers who responded to his house. In describing the planned murder, Clemmons said, "Knock, knock, knock, boom!" Darcus Allen, a convicted murderer who previously served in a Arkansas prison with Clemmons, was allegedly present for the conversation. Also on Thanksgiving, Clemmons cut off a GPS monitor Jail Sucks Bail Bonds had secured onto his ankle. On November 28, Clemmons showed two handguns to friends Eddie and Douglas Davis and told them he planned to shoot police officers with them; the exchange was witnessed by Clemmons' half-brother Rickey Hinton, with whom he shared a house. During the exchange, Clemmons danced around with the guns in his hands, claiming to be Lucifer
Lucifer
Traditionally, Lucifer is a name that in English generally refers to the devil or Satan before being cast from Heaven, although this is not the original meaning of the term. In Latin, from which the English word is derived, Lucifer means "light-bearer"...
. He told the men he had twice tried to go to a Tacoma police station, where he planned to walk in and start shooting. The first time the station was closed, and the second time he got a flat tire on the way there, Clemmons claimed. He also talked about stopping at a crowded intersection or a school and shooting people there.
Shooting
On the morning of Sunday, November 29, 2009, the four officers were working on their laptop computersLaptop
A laptop, also called a notebook, is a personal computer for mobile use. A laptop integrates most of the typical components of a desktop computer, including a display, a keyboard, a pointing device and speakers into a single unit...
prior to the start of their shift inside a Forza Coffee Company coffee shop in nearby Parkland
Parkland, Washington
Parkland is a census-designated place in Pierce County, Washington, United States. The population was 24,053 at the 2000 census and grew to 35,803 as of the 2010 census...
, adjacent to McChord Air Force Base. All four were in full uniform, armed, and wearing bulletproof vest
Bulletproof vest
A ballistic vest, bulletproof vest or bullet-resistant vest is an item of personal armor that helps absorb the impact from firearm-fired projectiles and shrapnel from explosions, and is worn on the torso...
s.
Clemmons drove a white pickup truck to Allen's home, then Allen drove him past the coffee shop. After they saw marked police patrol cars in the parking lot, Allen drove back past the coffee shop and parked nearby. Some reports from witnesses said Clemmons parked his truck in a car wash stall at the coffee shop and pretended to clean the vehicle, but never turned the hose on.
At approximately 8:15 AM (UTC-8
UTC-8
UTC−08:00 is an identifier for a time offset from UTC of −08. This time is used in:-As standard time :*Canada**Northwest Territories***Tungsten and the associated Cantung Mine*Mexico...
), Clemmons entered the coffee shop, approached the counter, turned around, and opened fire on the four seated officers with a semi-automatic handgun. Sgt. Mark Renniger and Officer Tina Griswold were killed as they sat in their chairs, both shot in the head. Officer Ronald Owens was shot in the neck as he stood up and attempted to draw his weapon. Officer Greg Richards managed to fight back against Clemmons and fired his own weapon, hitting Clemmons in the abdomen, before succumbing to a shot to the head. Clemmons then stole Richards's Glock
Glock
Glock Ges.m.b.H. is a weapons manufacturer headquartered in Deutsch-Wagram, Austria, named after its founder, Gaston Glock...
s before fleeing the scene. Clemmons was then seen getting into a vehicle which fled the scene. Neither of the two coffee shop employees nor the other customers in the store were hurt, and no money was taken from the cash register. Investigators say the murder was a targeted attack against police officers in general, since none of the four officers were individually targeted and robbery was ruled out as a motive. Clemmons returned to the truck and Allen drove him away. Allen later told detectives he stopped at an intersection and abandoned Clemmons and the truck, claiming he "wanted of no part of this". However, the police later disputed this claim and said there was no evidence Allen abandoned the vehicle.
Manhunt
The afternoon following the shooting, the Pierce County sheriff identified Maurice Clemmons, who had long criminal history in ArkansasArkansas
Arkansas is a state located in the southern region of the United States. Its name is an Algonquian name of the Quapaw Indians. Arkansas shares borders with six states , and its eastern border is largely defined by the Mississippi River...
and Washington, as the suspected murderer. Police confirmed that Clemmons had been shot in the abdomen during the attack, and advised hospitals to keep an eye out for walk-ins with gunshot wounds.
In the late evening hours of November 29, Seattle police
Seattle Police Department
The Seattle Police Department is the principal law enforcement agency of the city of Seattle, Washington, except for the campus of the University of Washington, for which responsibility falls to the University of Washington Police Department...
believed they had Clemmons surrounded in a home in the Leschi
Leschi, Seattle, Washington
Leschi is a neighborhood located within the city of Seattle, Washington, USA. The neighborhood is named after Chief Leschi of the Nisqually tribe.- Location :...
area of Seattle. Along with air support provided by King County Sheriff's Office, SWAT team
SWAT
A SWAT team is an elite tactical unit in various national law enforcement departments. They are trained to perform high-risk operations that fall outside of the abilities of regular officers...
s from the King County Sheriff's Office
King County, Washington Sheriff's Office
The King County Sheriff's Office is a local police agency in King County, Washington. It is the primary law enforcement agency for all unincorporated areas of King County, as well as 12 cities, and 2 transit agencies, which contract their police services to the KCSO. KCSO also provided Police and...
, Seattle Police Department, Tacoma Police Department, and other agencies entered the home after a twelve-hour standoff but found no one inside. Earlier in the day, Tacoma police served a search warrant
Search warrant
A search warrant is a court order issued by a Magistrate, judge or Supreme Court Official that authorizes law enforcement officers to conduct a search of a person or location for evidence of a crime and to confiscate evidence if it is found....
on a Tacoma
Tacoma, Washington
Tacoma is a mid-sized urban port city and the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. The city is on Washington's Puget Sound, southwest of Seattle, northeast of the state capital, Olympia, and northwest of Mount Rainier National Park. The population was 198,397, according to...
home belonging to a "person of interest" and collected evidence. An intense manhunt ensued, and police from agencies in Pierce and King
King County, Washington
King County is a county located in the U.S. state of Washington. The population in the 2010 census was 1,931,249. King is the most populous county in Washington, and the 14th most populous in the United States....
Counties conducted searches at the University of Washington
University of Washington
University of Washington is a public research university, founded in 1861 in Seattle, Washington, United States. The UW is the largest university in the Northwest and the oldest public university on the West Coast. The university has three campuses, with its largest campus in the University...
campus, Rizal Park
Rizal Park (Seattle)
Dr. José Rizal Park is a 9.6 acre park on the west slope of Beacon Hill in Seattle, Washington. The land, condemned by the city in 1917 for engineering purposes, was acquired by the Parks Department in 1971, and the park was dedicated eight years later...
, and in Renton
Renton, Washington
Renton is an Eastside edge city in King County, Washington, United States. Situated 11 miles southeast of Seattle, Washington, Renton straddles the southeast shore of Lake Washington. Founded in the 1860s, Renton became a supply town for the Newcastle coal fields...
, none of which turned up the suspect. King County Sheriff's Deputies and Washington State Patrol
Washington State Patrol
The Washington State Patrol is the state police agency for the State of Washington. The first six motorcycle patrolmen of the Highway Patrol were commissioned September 1, 1921. The agency was renamed to Washington State Patrol in June 1933. In 1925 William Cole was appointed as the first...
troopers, acting on a tip, were also conducting surveillance and going door to door at Snoqualmie Pass area homes, 50 miles (80.5 km) east of Seattle. A tip stated that Clemmons was going to be dropped off at Snoqualmie Pass to be handed off to another person to escape the region. After hours of investigating, the search was called off. The tip had been one of thousands of tips that came into local law enforcement agencies. Suspects in his escape later admitted that false tips were called in to sidetrack law enforcement officials.
Death of Clemmons
Around 2:45 a.m. on December 1, a Seattle police officer on patrol in south Seattle came upon a 1990 Acura IntegraHonda Integra
The Honda Integra is a compact luxury performance coupe made by Honda during the years 1985 to 2006. The sporty front wheel drive car is able to house five passengers with a two door hatch or four door sedan available.The Integra was on Car and Driver magazine's annual Ten Best list six times, in...
parked on the street at 44th Place South and South Kenyon Street, unoccupied with its hood raised and the engine running. He ran the vehicle's license plate number and determined that it had been stolen
Motor vehicle theft
Motor vehicle theft is the criminal act of stealing or attempting to steal a motor vehicle...
about two hours earlier. While sitting in his patrol car filling out paperwork in conjunction with the stolen vehicle, the officer noticed a person matching Clemmons' description approaching him from behind, first walking on the sidewalk and then in the middle of the street. Police accounts state that the officer confronted the suspect and ordered him to stop and show his hands, but the suspect instead began to flee around the disabled vehicle and reportedly "reached into his waist area and moved" as the officer was drawing his side arm
Side arm
A side arm is a weapon, usually a pistol but can be a dagger, as used in pre-modern times, which is worn on the body in a holster to permit immediate access and use. A side arm is typically required equipment for military personnel and sometimes carried by law enforcement personnel...
. The officer fired three shots at the suspect followed by another four shots as he ran away "in a dead sprint," striking him at least twice. The suspect managed to reach the sidewalk and collapsed face-down in a walkway leading to a home on Kenyon Street. The officer then retreated behind his patrol car, retrieved his shotgun
Shotgun
A shotgun is a firearm that is usually designed to be fired from the shoulder, which uses the energy of a fixed shell to fire a number of small spherical pellets called shot, or a solid projectile called a slug...
, and called for backup. Within seconds Seattle police swarmed the scene and a team of officers approached the suspect, handcuffed him, and dragged him away from the home. Seattle Fire Department
Seattle Fire Department
The Seattle Fire Department is the medical, rescue, and fire protection force of Seattle, Washington and it is the largest metropolitan fire department in the Pacific Northwest. It is also a part of Medic One.-History of the department:...
medics responded and pronounced the suspect dead at the scene. Seattle police later identified the deceased suspect as Clemmons. Clemmons was allegedly carrying a handgun that was identified by tracing the serial number as having belonged to Greg Richards, the cop who managed to shoot Clemmons before succumbing to his injuries,. Clemmons also had a prior gunshot wound
Ballistic trauma
The term ballistic trauma refers to a form of physical trauma sustained from the discharge of arms or munitions. The most common forms of ballistic trauma stem from firearms used in armed conflicts, civilian sporting and recreational pursuits, and criminal activity.-Destructive effects:The degree...
that had been stuffed with cotton and gauze and sealed with duct tape that the police determined was sustained in the Parkland shooting.
At the time of Clemmons' death, the police were offering a $145,000 reward for information leading to his arrest.
Weapons
Federal authorities ran traces on a 9-mm Glock Model 17 and a Smith & Wesson .38-caliber revolver:- The Glock was purchased in June 2005 at a Renton, WA pawnshop, Ben’s Loan Inc. The purchaser reported the gun stolen in March 2006, after his car was broken into at a downtown Seattle parking garage at Second Avenue and James Street.
- The Smith & Wesson revolver was shipped in 1981 to the (now-closed) Police Arms and Citizen Supply in Lakewood, CO, but from that point, no records show when the gun had been sold or to whom.
According to released documents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
Accomplices
As of December 2, six individuals have been arrested and face charges of providing assistance to Clemmons before and after the shooting. One of those six – who was already wantedFugitive
A fugitive is a person who is fleeing from custody, whether it be from private slavery, a government arrest, government or non-government questioning, vigilante violence, or outraged private individuals...
in connection with a bank robbery
Bank robbery
Bank robbery is the crime of stealing from a bank during opening hours. According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Uniform Crime Reporting Program, robbery is "the taking or attempting to take anything of value from the care, custody, or control of a person or persons by force or threat of...
in Arkansas – served time with Clemmons in an Arkansas prison and is believed to have helped Clemmons escape the scene of the shooting. The other five are accused of providing assistance to Clemmons such as transporting him to several locations, providing him with money and cell phones, making arrangements for him to flee the state, and treating his gunshot wound sustained in the Parkland shooting, all with full knowledge of the crime he had committed. In June 2010 Clemmons' sister was sentenced to five years imprisonment for acting as a getaway driver after the shooting. Later in December, three of four other suspects were convicted. Trials of the other defendants are pending.
Political
Mike HuckabeeMike Huckabee
Michael "Mike" Dale Huckabee is an American politician who served as the 44th Governor of Arkansas from 1996 to 2007. He was a candidate in the 2008 United States Republican presidential primaries, finishing second in delegate count and third in both popular vote and number of states won . He won...
has received nationwide criticism for his role in Clemmons' release from prison in 2000. The evening of the shooting, Huckabee released a statement seeking to cast some of the responsibility for Clemmons' release onto the parole board that freed him and the criminal justice system that Huckabee said repeatedly failed to properly handle him. In his statement, Huckabee said, "Should he be found to be responsible for this horrible tragedy, it will be the result of a series of failures in the criminal justice system in both Arkansas and Washington State." Huckabee, who is considered a favorite for the Republican Party
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
presidential
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
nomination in 2012
United States presidential election, 2012
The United States presidential election of 2012 is the next United States presidential election, to be held on Tuesday, November 6, 2012. It will be the 57th quadrennial presidential election in which presidential electors, who will actually elect the President and the Vice President of the United...
, has claimed that the situation is being used as a political weapon against him. Clemmons has been compared to Willie Horton
Willie Horton
William R. "Willie" Horton is an American convicted felon who, while serving a life sentence for murder, without the possibility of parole, was the beneficiary of a Massachusetts weekend furlough program...
, a convicted felon who was furlough
Furlough
In the United States a furlough is a temporary unpaid leave of some employees due to special needs of a company, which may be due to economic conditions at the specific employer or in the economy as a whole...
ed from a Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
prison in 1986 but never returned and committed more violent crimes several months later. The Horton case eventually factored in to the 1988
United States presidential election, 1988
The United States presidential election of 1988 featured no incumbent president, as President Ronald Reagan was unable to seek re-election after serving the maximum two terms allowed by the Twenty-second Amendment. Reagan's Vice President, George H. W. Bush, won the Republican nomination, while the...
presidential campaign of Democratic Party
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
candidate Michael Dukakis
Michael Dukakis
Michael Stanley Dukakis served as the 65th and 67th Governor of Massachusetts from 1975–1979 and from 1983–1991, and was the Democratic presidential nominee in 1988. He was born to Greek immigrants in Brookline, Massachusetts, also the birthplace of John F. Kennedy, and was the longest serving...
, who was Governor of Massachusetts
Governor of Massachusetts
The Governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts is the executive magistrate of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, United States. The current governor is Democrat Deval Patrick.-Constitutional role:...
at the time and supported the furlough program. Timothy Egan
Timothy Egan
Timothy Egan is a Pulitzer Prize winning author who resides in Seattle. He currently contributes opinion columns to The New York Times as the paper's Pacific Northwest correspondent...
, opinion writer for The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
, said of Huckabee's role in Clemmons' release, "If this case does not sink the presidential aspirations of Huckabee…it should."
The incident has also led some university professor
Professor
A professor is a scholarly teacher; the precise meaning of the term varies by country. Literally, professor derives from Latin as a "person who professes" being usually an expert in arts or sciences; a teacher of high rank...
s, criminologists, and attorney
Attorney at law
An attorney at law in the United States is a practitioner in a court of law who is legally qualified to prosecute and defend actions in such court on the retainer of clients. Alternative terms include counselor and lawyer...
s to speculate that U.S. governors
Governor (United States)
In the United States, the title governor refers to the chief executive of each state or insular territory, not directly subordinate to the federal authorities, but the political and ceremonial head of the state.-Role and powers:...
will become more reluctant to grant pardon
Pardon
Clemency means the forgiveness of a crime or the cancellation of the penalty associated with it. It is a general concept that encompasses several related procedures: pardoning, commutation, remission and reprieves...
s and clemencies to convicted felons, in order to avoid the negative publicity faced by Dukakis and Huckabee in the Horton and Clemmons cases, respectively.
Officers' memorial service
A public memorial service for the four slain officers was held December 8, 2009 at the Tacoma DomeTacoma Dome
The Tacoma Dome is an indoor arena located in Tacoma, Washington, USA, approximately 30 miles south of Seattle.-History:...
. The day began with a 10 miles (16.1 km) procession from McChord Air Force Base past the Lakewood police station to the Tacoma Dome. Over 2,000 police and fire vehicles from over 150 different law enforcement and fire agencies participated in the procession, which took five hours to complete. Over 20,000 people, mostly from the law enforcement and firefighting communities, attended the service at the Tacoma Dome. Police officers from as far away as New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
and Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
, as well as a large contingent of Royal Canadian Mounted Police
Royal Canadian Mounted Police
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police , literally ‘Royal Gendarmerie of Canada’; colloquially known as The Mounties, and internally as ‘The Force’) is the national police force of Canada, and one of the most recognized of its kind in the world. It is unique in the world as a national, federal,...
officers, were in attendance. Lakewood's mayor and police chief gave remarks at the service, followed by eulogies
Eulogy
A eulogy is a speech or writing in praise of a person or thing, especially one recently deceased or retired. Eulogies may be given as part of funeral services. However, some denominations either discourage or do not permit eulogies at services to maintain respect for traditions...
by family, friends, and colleagues of the four officers. Washington Governor Christine Gregoire
Christine Gregoire
Christine O'Grady "Chris" Gregoire is the 22nd and current Governor of the state of Washington, and a member of the Democratic Party. Gregoire defeated Republican candidate Dino Rossi in 2004, and again in 2008. She is the second female governor of Washington...
also spoke, saying, "We will remember them today. We will remember them always." The service concluded with a played recording of a police dispatcher attempting to call each officer with no response, and the dispatcher declaring each officer as "gone but not forgotten." The officers' remains were buried in private ceremonies by their individual families.
From a logistical standpoint, the agencies preparing for the memorial services expected 20,000 law enforcement personnel to appear at the service. One thousand emergency vehicles and police cruisers were set up to follow the families of the victims to the Tacoma Dome. Fifty people from several public agencies worked to make the event occur smoothly. Jody Woodcock, a program manager of the Pierce County Department of Emergency Management, said that the agencies planned to make the event look like it was easily prepared and that the authorities intend to "take care of all the details so the families and the law enforcement community don't have to think about them." Rob Carson of The Seattle Times
The Seattle Times
The Seattle Times is a newspaper serving Seattle, Washington, US. It is the largest daily newspaper in the state of Washington. It has been, since the demise in 2009 of the printed version of the rival Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Seattle's only major daily print newspaper.-History:The Seattle Times...
said, "Logistically, the event is staggering in its complexity." Alaska Airlines
Alaska Airlines
Alaska Airlines is an airline based in the Seattle suburb of SeaTac, Washington in the United States. The airline originated in 1932 as McGee Airways. After many mergers with and acquisitions of other airlines, including Star Air Service, it became known as Alaska Airlines in 1944...
gave airline tickets to family members who were going to the event and were flying into Seattle-Tacoma International Airport
Seattle-Tacoma International Airport
The Seattle–Tacoma International Airport , also known as Sea–Tac Airport or Sea–Tac , is an American airport located in SeaTac, Washington, at the intersections of State Routes 99 and 509 and 518, about west of Interstate 5...
from other states. The American Red Cross
American Red Cross
The American Red Cross , also known as the American National Red Cross, is a volunteer-led, humanitarian organization that provides emergency assistance, disaster relief and education inside the United States. It is the designated U.S...
donated food and water for the event.
See also
- Murder of Timothy BrentonMurder of Timothy BrentonThe murder of Timothy Brenton occurred on October 31, 2009 in the Central District of Seattle, Washington, United States. Brenton, an officer with the Seattle Police Department, was seated in a parked patrol car with another officer discussing a traffic stop when a gunman stopped his vehicle...
- 2009 shooting of Oakland police officers2009 shooting of Oakland police officersTwo shootings of Oakland, California police officers took place on Saturday, March 21, 2009, when four officers were killed by a convicted felon wanted on a no-bail warrant for a parole violation...
- 2009 Pittsburgh police shootings2009 Pittsburgh police shootingsThe 2009 Pittsburgh police shootings was a shootout that took place on Saturday, April 4, 2009, at 1016 Fairfield Street in the Stanton Heights neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States, stemming from an argument over a dog urinating in the house between a mother and her 22-year-old...