Posts Tagged ‘murder’

Four Police Officers Killed in “Ambush”

By jefflouis in Crime, MSI Detective Services, Violence, murder at December 5th, 2009 | No comments

newstribunephotoTacoma, 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.

Maurice_Clemmons

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.



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No Easy Clues In Addison Murder/Suicide

By jefflouis in Chicago, Crime, Illinois, MSI Detective Services, Safety, Security, Violence at November 27th, 2009 | No comments

addisonwatertwrThe silence was shattered in Addison, IL  early Wednesday morning, but it wasn’t train whistles or traffic on the freeway. It was the sound of gunfire. Addison, a village located southwest of O’Hare International off the Eisenhower Expressway, and home to nearly 39,000, didn’t hear gunfire very often. In fact, according to City Data, there were eight homicides between 2003 and 2007. Wednesday morning’s murders totaled half that number.  The Daily Herald Reported:

An Addison man active in his community opened fire Wednesday on his family before killing himself in a murder-suicide captured on the wife’s desperate 911 call, authorities said.

Tom Mangiantini, aged 48,  is suspected of killing his two sons, Tommy and Angelo, aged 8 and 11,  as well as his wife, Elizabeth,  aged 46. After murdering his family, the man turned the gun on himself.  Although police have not identified the bodies officially, sources state that it was the Mangiantini family. Police arrived shortly after the 911 call and had to break into the house. Upon entering, they discovered the victims, along with a handgun and spent shell casings.

Autopsies were expected to be performed sometime this morning, and at the time of this writing, there were no known issues with the family. The Mangiantini’s were actively involved with the community of Addison, and had been living in the same home for at least 15-years. Neighbor interviewed stated that it was business as usual and that there did not seem to be any underlying turmoil. A police records check showed that none of the family members had ever been in trouble with the law, and that there were no reports of domestic, or child, abuse. There also wasn’t any evidence of divorce proceedings or legal matters to help make sense of the terrible crime.

The Addison community is stunned, totally baffled by the fact that the family was always loving,  never seemed to argue or fight, and was tightly-knit; especially Mr. Mangiantini and his two boys. Angelo and Tommy were described as normal kids that played baseball on a team coached by their father. One community member stated that Mr. Mangiantini had coached 100s of boys throughout the years. WGN Radio interviewed Jacque Graziano, whose son was close to Angelo;

Thomas Mangiantini “worshipped the kids,” Jacque Graziano said. She recalled he once canceled a “boys weekend” camping trip after Angelo swelled up with a skin rash. “If something had happened to you,” she recalled him saying to Angelo, “I would feel sick.”

“So,” Graziano said, “how does somebody like that then turn something like this? I don’t get it.”

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Lincoln Park Suspect Charged

By jefflouis in Chicago, Crime, MSI Detective Services, Safety, Violence at November 21st, 2009 | No comments
Police File Photo

Police File Photo

Suspected of a shooting death, Jose Melecio, age 30, has been formally charged with first degree murder after an altercation in Chicago’s trendy Lincoln Park neighborhood.
Allegedly, Melecio, from Brighton Park, shot and killed Carlos Aguire, age 29, after a verbal altercation at the Green Dolphin Street jazz club on North Ashland.

The two men were arguing and once the argument ended, Aguirre left, according to the Chicago Police Department. According to Chicago Breaking News:

Melecio and another man followed Aguirre and his girlfriend to the 1500 block of West Webster Avenue, where they pulled him out of his truck as he got in, prosecutors said today. Melecio and the other man began to punch and kick Aguirre, prosecutors said. Melicio then produced a gun and shot Aguirre in the abdomen, armpit and arm, prosecuotrs said.

The shooting occurred at approximately 4:30 in the morning, and Aguirre was pronounced dead at 6:37 a.m. at Advocate Illinois Masonic Hospital.

Police are still looking for Melecio’s companion.

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Sunday Morning: 2 Killed, Several Wounded in Chicago Violence

By jefflouis in Chicago, Crime, Illinois, MSI Detective Services, Violence at November 21st, 2009 | No comments

dontshootsmall

After a relatively calm couple of days, the weekend erupted in violence soon after community activist groups preached for a day without killing, the violence waited until just after midnight early Sunday morning. The activist group, Cease Fire, had been meeting with Fenger High School students over stopping violence at the school. Although Cease Fire is working with the students, a judged passed a motion that allows Fenger students to switch schools due to the violence.

Sunday morning, around 12:06 a.m., a man was found dead from a gunshot wound in an Englewood alley. He had been shot in the back and chest. Witnesses stated that the man had been chased by another person who began shooting. The man turned into the alley and apparently collapsed and died.

Another man was shot around 12:13 a.m. in Lawndale after witnessing a fight on the 3900 block of West Ogden. He was shot in the leg and thigh. His condition is unknown.

Two hours later, Howard Hodges, a resident of Park Forest was killed outside the Time Out Lounge on Chicago’s South Side. He was pronounced dead at the scene. A separate victim, also shout outside the lounge, was taken to the hospital with severe, but not deadly injuries.

Back in Englewood at 3:15 a.m., two people were stabbed. Finally, the violence ended in Brighton Park as three more people were shot at about five in the morning.

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