4 police officers shot dead at Wash. coffeehouse

[buddahj]

By GENE JOHNSON, Associated Press Writer Gene Johnson, Associated Press Writer – 11 mins ago

PARKLAND, Wash. – One of four police officers killed in an ambush at a coffee house Sunday fought with the gunman and may have wounded him before the officer died just outside the doorway, a sheriff's spokesman said.

 

Pierce County sheriff's spokesman Ed Troyer told reporters that investigators were asking area medical providers to report any people wounded by gunshots.

 

Troyer said investigators believe two of the officers were shot dead while sitting in the shop, and a third was killed after standing up. The fourth apparently struggled with the gunman out the doorway and "gave up a good fight," getting off a few shots before he was either shot there or succumbed to earlier wounds.

 

"We believe there was a struggle, a commotion, a fight ... that he fought the guy all the way out the door," Troyer said.

 

He added, "We hope that he hit him."

 

The gunman burst into the coffee house Sunday morning and opened fire on the officers as they sat working on their laptops, killing the three men and one woman in what Troyer described as a targeted ambush.

 

Troyer said officers were looking for one male suspect who fled the scene and haven't ruled out an accomplice, possibly a getaway driver.

 

Troyer said investigators determined that a hoax call from a person in nearby Tacoma led officers to believe the gunman was on foot and still near the coffee shop. A number of officers spent part of the afternoon carefully searching buildings close by.

 

Troyer said the attack was clearly targeted at the officers, not a robbery gone bad.

 

"This was more of an execution. Walk in with the specific mindset to shoot police officers," he said.

 

Troyer said the officers — all from the Lakewood Police Department — were catching up on paperwork at the beginning of their shifts when they were attacked at 8:15 a.m. Sunday.

 

"There were marked patrol cars outside and they were all in uniform," Troyer said.

 

With no known suspects, there was no indication of any connection with the Halloween night shooting of a Seattle police officer. The suspect in that shooting remains hospitalized.

 

"We won't know if it's a copycat effect or what it was until we get the case solved," Troyer said. "We don't even have a suspect ID right now."

 

Lakewood Mayor Douglas Richardson said the names of the victims would be released as soon as extended family members were notified.

 

In a statement, Richardson said the officers, part of the city's 100-member police force, had been with the department since it was organized five years ago. He called the crime "our most tragic event in Lakewood's 14 years as a city."

 

Troyer estimated that a couple of hundred officers from the Washington State Patrol and multiple surrounding police agencies in the area were at the crime scene, with some coming on their own time.

 

"We have no motive at all," Troyer said. "I don't think when we find out what it is, it will be anything that makes any sense or be worth it."

 

Two employees and a few other customers were in the shop during the attack. All are being interviewed by the Pierce County Sheriff's investigators.

 

"Some are in shock. They are very upset," Troyer said. "They are the ones who are going to put together for us how this happened."

 

The Forza Coffee Shop, part of a popular local chain, is on a side street near McChord Air Force Base in Tacoma, about 35 miles south of Seattle. The shop is in a small retail center alongside two restaurants, a cigar store and a nail salon.

 

Brad Carpenter, founder and owner of Forza Coffee, said his staff was OK and being interviewed by police, and that his main concern was for the families of the police officers.

 

"I'm a retired police officer, so this really hits close to home for me," said Carpenter, of nearby Gig Harbor.

 

Troyer said the Lakewood officers were two blocks outside their jurisdiction, and the coffee shop was a popular place for officers from surrounding jurisdictions to meet and share information.

 

Streets around the coffee shop were blocked off late Sunday morning, and a police helicopter hovered over a large crowd of investigators. TV video showed police taking possession of a pickup truck parked in a grocery store in Parkland.

 

"We are looking at some people. We are looking at some cars. We are looking at some residences," Troyer said.

 

Troyer said investigators were checking surveillance video from multiple sources, trying to identify a possible getaway car.

 

Dave Gabrielson, a clerk at Foot Mart about a block away from the coffee shop, told the newspaper all was quiet when he opened the store at 8 a.m. About 30 minutes later, "All of a sudden a million cops were zooming up and down the road," Gabrielson said.

 

He said he saw officers bring a police dog into a nearby apartment complex.

 

Last month, Seattle police officer Timothy Brenton was shot and killed Halloween night as he was sitting in a cruiser with trainee Britt Sweeney. Sweeney was grazed in the neck.

 

Authorities say the man charged with that shooting also firebombed four police vehicles in October as part of a "one-man war" against law enforcement. Christopher Monfort, 41, was arrested after being wounded in a firefight with police days after the Seattle shooting. He remains hospitalized in stable condition, the hospital said Sunday.

 

The officers killed Sunday were a patrol squad made up of three officers and their sergeant. No threats had been made against them or other officers in the region, sheriff's officials said. Their families have been notified.

 

"We lost people we care about. We're working to find out who did this and deal with him." Pierce County Sheriff Paul Pastor told reporters at the scene.

 

Washington Gov. Chris Gregoire said she was "shocked and horrified" by the killings.

 

"Our police put their lives on the line every day, and tragedies like this remind us of the risks they continually take to keep our communities safe," she said in a written statement. "My heart goes out to the family, friends and co-workers of these officers, as well as the entire law enforcement community."

 

At Rollies Tavern near the coffee house, the plasma TVs usually tuned to football had Northwest Cable News on. Three bar patrons live next door to the coffee house.

 

Jerry Arnold, 45, was in bed when he was awakened by sirens. He's lived there seven years and never seen anything close to Sunday's scene.

 

"I hope they get them. I can't sleep until they do," he said. "Those guys could be hiding in my backyard."

 

this is really f'ed up. i hope the catch the guy...and by catch i mean gun down like a dog in the street.

[bushwacked]

The local feed here is breaking into the game; sounds like they have a suspect.

[dmarc117]

that guy is skrewed when caught.

[whomper]

 

Terrible story. Prayers to the families of the officers. Sad sad stuff

[Moss6]

 

[Ursa Majoris]

Looks like a born criminal.

 

PARKLAND, Wash. – A man with an extensive criminal past — whose 95-year prison sentence was commuted in Arkansas nearly a decade ago — was being sought Sunday as a "person of interest" in a deadly ambush on four police officers who were gunned down inside a coffee shop.

 

Pierce County sheriff's spokesman Ed Troyer told reporters that Maurice Clemmons, 37, was one of several people investigators want to talk to and that he could not be called a suspect at this point.

 

In a news release, the sheriff's office said Clemmons has an extensive violent criminal history from Arkansas, including aggravated robbery and theft. Clemmons also recently was arrested and charged in Pierce County in Washington state for third-degree assault on a police officer, and second-degree rape of a child.

 

In 1989, Clemmons, then 17, was convicted in Little Rock for aggravated robbery. He was paroled in 2000 after then-Gov. Mike Huckabee commuted Clemmons' 95-year prison sentence. Huckabee, who was criticized during his run for the Republican presidential nomination in 2008 for the number of clemencies and commutations he granted, cited Clemmons' age at the time of the sentence.

 

After his release from prison, Clemmons violated his parole and was returned to prison in July 2001. He was released March 18, 2004, according to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette newspaper.

[tazinib1]

I hope they get his ass too. Unlike the watch dog faggots covering our troops, at least our police can screw a guy up real good before/after arresting his dirt bag ass.

[theprofessor]

This happened about 10 minutes from where I live. Very sad day. 3 weeks ago, 45 mnutes from here in Seattle, we buried another officer who was sitting in his car writing a report when a guy pulled up and shot him and the female officer sitting next to him. Unbelievable that we have people like this with no regard for human life that they will kill, just to kill?

 

This guy that shot the 4 police today in Parkland walked in to the coffee shop while the four officers were preparing for their day, working with their laptops walked up to place his order and turned and opened fire on each of them execution style. It's believed that two of them died instantly, another was shot multiple times while trying to pull his gun and the fourth was shot multiple times but crawled out the front door, trying to shoot the killer as he ran down the street.

 

It appears that they are pretty sure who this guy is and are close to getting him. The guy is a known Cop hater so I doubt he'll be taken alive. The anguish these families must be going through right now is unimaginable. There are 9 children left without their Mom and Dad today because of this piece of $h*t.

[bpwallace49]

In a news release, the sheriff's office said Clemmons has an extensive violent criminal history from Arkansas, including aggravated robbery and theft. Clemmons also recently was arrested and charged in Pierce County in Washington state for third-degree assault on a police officer, and second-degree rape of a child.

 

In 1989, Clemmons, then 17, was convicted in Little Rock for aggravated robbery. He was paroled in 2000 after then-Gov. Mike Huckabee commuted Clemmons' 95-year prison sentence. Huckabee, who was criticized during his run for the Republican presidential nomination in 2008 for the number of clemencies and commutations he granted, cited Clemmons' age at the time of the sentence.

 

W T F

 

I can understand commuting the sentence of NON-VIOLENT offenders, but seriously???

 

Prayers with their families, and I hope they catch him ASAFP

[The Irish Doggy]

Not to get all conspiracy theory, but seems like there should be more to this than one lone gunman randomly targeting some guys on break.

[isleseeya]

Not to get all conspiracy theory, but seems like there should be more to this than one lone gunman randomly targeting some guys on break.

 

It does seem a little strange but not far fetched that one lone nut pulled this off

[MrTed46]

I dont find it strange, how hard is it to go up to cops and blast them and run away?

 

I'm sure the cops didnt see it coming and the story makes sense. 2 were shot right away and the other 2 had time to move around and try to fight back but they were ambushed.

 

ETA: Especially after reading a few weeks back how a highschool girl got raped while many bystanders just watched. Nothing surprises me anymore.

Edited November 30, 2009 by MrTed46

[westvirginia]

I dont find it strange, how hard is it to go up to cops and blast them and run away?

 

I'm sure the cops didnt see it coming and the story makes sense. 2 were shot right away and the other 2 had time to move around and try to fight back but they were ambushed.

 

ETA: Especially after reading a few weeks back how a highschool girl got raped while many bystanders just watched. Nothing surprises me anymore.

 

+1

 

Cops tend to put a lot of faith in the badge and the backup, and it usually works. When you have a seriously f-ed up individual who is out to kill a cop(s) even if they die in the process, a cop usually dies. Fortunately it's just maybe 1/100th of a percent of the population that gets this way.

[Big John]

+1

 

Cops tend to put a lot of faith in the badge and the backup, and it usually works. When you have a seriously f-ed up individual who is out to kill a cop(s) even if they die in the process, a cop usually dies. Fortunately it's just maybe 1/100th of a percent of the population that gets this way.

I would say it is a lot less than 1 out of every 10,000 people.

[westvirginia]

I would say it is a lot less than 1 out of every 10,000 people.

 

You're probably right, one out of 500K maybe?

[bushwacked]

One of the twists on the story that is angering people out here is that the suspect was supposed to be imprisoned by the State of Arkansas until 2015 without possibility of parole. Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee granted him clemency in 2000.

[yo mama]

One of the twists on the story that is angering people out here is that the suspect was supposed to be imprisoned by the State of Arkansas until 2015 without possibility of parole. Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee granted him clemency in 2000.

Yeah, that threw me. Huckabee was quick to try and spread the blame around.

[evil_gop_liars]

Yeah, that threw me. Huckabee was quick to try and spread the blame around.

 

"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.

 

 

Huckabeegate?

[Savage Beatings]

Mike Huckabee should have to share the exact same sentence as whatever this murdering thug receives for gunning down those cops.

[Pope Flick]

I'm no Huckabee fan but the guy was picked up several times after the commutation, one for raping a child. That is where the failure is: you're on parole, rape a kid and stay free? I don't think Huckabee had a thing to do with that.

[evil_gop_liars]

I'm no Huckabee fan but the guy was picked up several times after the commutation, one for raping a child. That is where the failure is: you're on parole, rape a kid and stay free? I don't think Huckabee had a thing to do with that.

 

It should of never went past this.

 

Clemmons' criminal history includes at least five felony convictions in Arkansas

 

 

Nine years ago, then-Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee granted clemency to Clemmons, commuting his lengthy prison sentence over the protests of prosecutors.

 

 

Then this would never happen.

 

Clemmons had been in jail in Pierce County for the past several months on a pending charge of second-degree rape of a child. He was released from custody just six days ago, even though was staring at seven additional felony charges in Washington state.

 

Clemmons posted $15,000 with a Chehalis company called Jail Sucks Bail Bonds. The bondsman, in turn, put up $150,000, securing Clemmons' release on the pending child-rape charge.

[yo mama]

I'm no Huckabee fan but the guy was picked up several times after the commutation, one for raping a child. That is where the failure is: you're on parole, rape a kid and stay free? I don't think Huckabee had a thing to do with that.

Sure he did. He released someone that a judge and/or jury determined was too dangerous to be released for any reason, at least until 2015. That's 100% on Huckabee.

[skylive5]

Suspect found this AM and fatally shot.

 

That is all the news at the moment.

[Mojo20]

Supposedly his extended family has been harboring him for the past two days, supplying food, money, medical aid, etc...

 

They should be charged as if they pulled the trigger themselves.

 

This story makes me physically ill.

[evil_gop_liars]

by Associated Press and KING5.com

 

Posted on December 1, 2009 at 4:07 AM

 

Updated today at 5:47 AM

 

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 in a working-class south Seattle neighborhood after police tracked him down using possible hiding spots supplied by Pierce County investigators, said Ed Troyer, a spokesman for the county sheriff.

 

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.

 

Officials say the Tuesday morning confrontation took place at about 2:40 a.m. in the 4400 block of South Kenyon Street in the Rainier Valley neighborhood.

 

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.

 

At a news conference, police said a patrol officer came upon a reported stolen car. He observed some movement near the car and recognized the suspect.

 

"(The officer) says he recognized the person who was approaching him as to be looking or appeared to be just like the person who has been broadcast as the possible suspect in the tragic homicide in Lakewood," said Assistant Seattle Police Chief Jim Pugel.

 

The officer ordered the person to stop. The suspect began to run. The officer fired several rounds, hitting the suspect. The suspect was dead at the scene. Police say the suspect was armed with a gun taken from one of the slain Lakewood Police officers.

 

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.