| Maurice Clemmons wanted for questioning in Washington police shootings |
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30/11/2009 13:22 (71 Day 21:51 minutes ago) | |||||
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The FINANCIAL -- The person, Maurice Clemmons, the 37-year-old Tacoma man, of interest in connection with the execution-style shooting deaths of Police officers in Parkland, Wash, is being sought for questioning in the killing of four police officers on November 29.
Maurice Clemmonshas has an extensive criminal history in both Washington and Arkansas, Examiner wrote.
A manhunt for Maurice Clemmons, was launched hours after a gunman walked into the Forza Coffee café in Parkland, Wash., and shot each officer in the head as they were doing paperwork on their laptops, Daily News reports. Police officials stopped short of calling Clemmons a suspect, but a former Arkansas prosecutor said he would not be surprised if Clemmons was the killer. "This is the day I've been dreading for a long time," Larry Jegley, prosecuting attorney for Arkansas' Pulaski County, told the Seattle Times.
Despite protests from Jegley, ex-Arkansas Gov. Huckabee granted clemency to Clemmons nine years ago, commuting his lengthy prison sentence, according to the same source. Clemmons was released from custody in Washington's Pierce County six days ago, pending charges of second-degree rape of a child. The cops were working on their laptops at 8:15 a.m. in a Forza Coffee café when the shooter walked in and gunned them down, authorities said. "Two of them were flat executed, sitting writing reports. A third tried to get up and was shot, and a fourth fought his way to the parking lot and got off some rounds," said Pierce County Sheriff's spokesman Ed Troyer.
Clemmons' criminal history includes at least five felony convictions in Arkansas and at least eight felony charges in Washington, The Seattle Times informs. The record also stands out for the number of times he has been released from custody despite questions about the danger he posed. If Clemmons is found responsible, "it will be the result of a series of failures in the criminal justice system in both Arkansas and Washington State," Huckabee said.
The four officers were with the 100-member police department of Lakewood, which adjoins the unincorporated area of Parkland, where the shootings took place, Philadelphia Inquirer reports. They were identified as Sgt. Mark Renninger, 39; Ronald Owens, 37; Tina Griswald, 40; and Greg Richards, 42. "We believe there was a struggle, a commotion, a fight . . . that he fought the guy all the way out the door," Troyer said.
Troyer said the attack was clearly targeted at the officers, not a robbery gone bad, according to the same source. "This was more of an execution," he said. Troyer said the officers were catching up on paperwork at the start of their shift when they were attacked. The coffee shop is in a small retail center. "There were marked patrol cars outside, and they were all in uniform," Troyer said. He said the gunman entered and walked up to the counter as though to place an order. A barista saw a gun when the man opened his jacket and she fled out the back door. The man then turned and opened fire on the officers.
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