Tacoma, Washington, and law enforcement nationwide, is in a state of shock over the seemingly planned ambush and murder of four area police officers at a coffee shop this morning. The officers, according to reports, were getting set to start their shift when a black male entered and shot all four in Lakewood, a town south of Tacoma. No one else was reported to be injured.
The Sheriff’s Department stated that the murders were “targeted.” The Seattle Post-Intelligencer reports that the victims were part of the original police force when the Lakewood Police Station was started 5-years ago. Police state that they have a person of interest, according to the Post-Intelligencer;
Maurice Clemmons – a man with what police said was an extensive criminal history in Washington andArkansas – was named as a person of interest. Clemmons was a person of interest because of “past run-ins with law enforcement,” Pierce County Sheriff’s spokesman Ed Troyer said.
Clemmons
Police launched a statewide manhunt to find suspected cop killer Maurice Clemmons. A single officer noted movement near an automobile that had reportedly been stolen, and finding that it was most likely Clemmons, pulled his weapon and ordered him to put his hands in the air. When the suspect did not comply and then took off at a run, the police officer fired several shots. At 2:40 a.m. December 1st, 2009, the manhunt was over; Clemmons was pronounced dead by on-scene paramedics.
From his earlier altercation with the four officers, Clemmons had a gunshot wound in his stomach that had been poorly treated. Without medical treatment, Clemmons would have eventually died from his wounds. Clemmons, did not fire any rounds prior to being killed, but it was later found that he was armed with a weapon that had been taken from one of the four slain officers.
Police stated that the fugitive had been aided by family and friends, and began making arrests early Tuesday morning. The Pierce County Sheriff arrested a total of seven people on charges of harboring a fugitive, obstruction of justice, and rendering aid to a criminal.