Four U.S. police officers killed in ambush in Washington
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More on this via the Associated Press (with the usual caveats -and emphasis is mine):
Suspect in U.S. cop killings eludes law
By Manuel Valdes, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
SEATTLE (AP) — Using search dogs and going door to door, hundreds of police intensified the hunt Monday for the man wanted in the coffeehouse killings of four officers after a SWAT team came up empty-handed in a raid on a house where he was thought to be holed up.
The realization that the suspect had not been cornered after all further rattled people in the Seattle area, many of them unnerved by the thought of a mentally unstable killer in their midst.
Police canvassed the neighborhood around the Seattle house and fanned out across the city, looking for any sign of Maurice Clemmons, 37. Authorities posted a $125,000 reward for information leading to his arrest in the Sunday morning shooting rampage.
The manhunt came as authorities in two states took heat for the fact that Clemmons was allowed to walk the streets despite a teenage crime spree in Arkansas that landed him a 95-year prison sentence. He was released in 2000 after then-Gov. Mike Huckabee commuted his sentence.
“This guy should have never been on the street,” said Brian D. Wurts, president of the police union in Lakewood, where all four slain officers worked. “Our elected officials need to find out why these people are out.”
Police said they are not sure what prompted Clemmons to assassinate the officers as they worked on their laptop computers at the beginning of their shifts. He was described as increasingly erratic in the past few months and had been arrested earlier this year on charges that he punched a sheriff’s deputy in the face.
[color=]Sheriff’s spokesman Ed 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.” [/color]
Authorities said the gunman singled out the officers and spared employees and other customers at the coffee shop in a suburb about 35 miles south of Seattle. He then fled, but not before he was apparently shot in the torso by one of the dying officers.
Police later learned he may have been holed up at the house in Seattle. After an all-night siege in which they tried to get him out using loudspeakers, explosions and a robot sent into the house, a SWAT team stormed the place and discovered he was not there. Police would not say who lived at the house or whether it was someone Clemmons knew.
It was not clear whether he slipped past police, left before they arrived, or was never in the house at all, but Seattle police spokesman Jeff Kappel said there was evidence Clemmons at one point was on the property. He would not elaborate.
Police spent the day frantically chasing leads, visiting hundreds of locations as they followed up on tips, at one point cordoning off a park where people thought they saw Clemmons. They also alerted hospitals to be on the lookout for a man seeking treatment for gunshot wounds.
University of Washington officials alerted students by e-mail and text messages to an unconfirmed report that Clemmons might have gotten off a bus on or near the campus about three miles from the home.
Investigators also examined the coffee shop for clues. Sheriff’s spokesman Lt. Dave McDonald said that authorities found a handgun carried by the killer, along with a pickup truck belonging to the suspect with blood stains inside.
“He was very versed with the weapon,” Troyer said earlier. “This wasn’t something where the windows were shot up and there bullets sprayed around the place. The bullets hit their targets.”
Killed were Sgt. Mark Renninger, 39, and Officers Ronald Owens, 37, Tina Griswold, 40, and Greg Richards, 42.
Clemmons has an extensive violent criminal history from Arkansas, dating back to his teenage burglary and robbery spree. Huckabee’s decision to commute his sentence could create a “Willie Horton” problem for the Republican former governor if he runs for president again in 2012.
During the 1988 White House campaign, Massachusetts Gov. Michael Dukakis was criticized after Horton, a killer serving a life sentence, robbed and raped a woman while on a weekend furlough from prison.
On Sunday, Huckabee issued this statement on his Web site: “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.”
In seeking leniency from Huckabee, Clemmons wrote the parole board that he was a “misguided fool” when he committed the crimes and “learned through the school of hard knocks to appreciate and respect the rights of others.”
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.
[color=]Clemmons was charged in Washington state earlier this year with assaulting a police officer and raping a child,[/color] and investigators in the sex case said he was motivated 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 punching a sheriff’s deputy in the face. In another, 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.
Neighbors said Clemmons had surveillance cameras installed along the bushes in front of his house, and had mostly kept his blinds shut since he was accused of throwing rocks through the windows of his neighbors’ cars and houses earlier this year.
Neighbor Ken Dietiker said he initially thought Clemmons’ cameras were there to prevent crime. “But now I’m starting to think he’s just paranoid,” he said.
Dietiker said he was frustrated to learn about Clemmons’ record and releases from custody.
“There were all these indicators. Who didn’t see them?” he asked. “That’s what I want to know.”
Link to article:
http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/World/2009/11/30/11977546-ap.html
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This has got to be just devastating to the people on the Lakewood PD. The death of just one officer even on a large force is a horrifying thing. Imagine losing four all at once on a force of only one hundred officers.
R.I.P. to those slain and all prayers and wishes to those who survive them.
Suspect in U.S. cop killings eludes law
By Manuel Valdes, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
SEATTLE (AP) — Using search dogs and going door to door, hundreds of police intensified the hunt Monday for the man wanted in the coffeehouse killings of four officers after a SWAT team came up empty-handed in a raid on a house where he was thought to be holed up.
The realization that the suspect had not been cornered after all further rattled people in the Seattle area, many of them unnerved by the thought of a mentally unstable killer in their midst.
Police canvassed the neighborhood around the Seattle house and fanned out across the city, looking for any sign of Maurice Clemmons, 37. Authorities posted a $125,000 reward for information leading to his arrest in the Sunday morning shooting rampage.
The manhunt came as authorities in two states took heat for the fact that Clemmons was allowed to walk the streets despite a teenage crime spree in Arkansas that landed him a 95-year prison sentence. He was released in 2000 after then-Gov. Mike Huckabee commuted his sentence.
“This guy should have never been on the street,” said Brian D. Wurts, president of the police union in Lakewood, where all four slain officers worked. “Our elected officials need to find out why these people are out.”
Police said they are not sure what prompted Clemmons to assassinate the officers as they worked on their laptop computers at the beginning of their shifts. He was described as increasingly erratic in the past few months and had been arrested earlier this year on charges that he punched a sheriff’s deputy in the face.
[color=]Sheriff’s spokesman Ed 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.” [/color]
Authorities said the gunman singled out the officers and spared employees and other customers at the coffee shop in a suburb about 35 miles south of Seattle. He then fled, but not before he was apparently shot in the torso by one of the dying officers.
Police later learned he may have been holed up at the house in Seattle. After an all-night siege in which they tried to get him out using loudspeakers, explosions and a robot sent into the house, a SWAT team stormed the place and discovered he was not there. Police would not say who lived at the house or whether it was someone Clemmons knew.
It was not clear whether he slipped past police, left before they arrived, or was never in the house at all, but Seattle police spokesman Jeff Kappel said there was evidence Clemmons at one point was on the property. He would not elaborate.
Police spent the day frantically chasing leads, visiting hundreds of locations as they followed up on tips, at one point cordoning off a park where people thought they saw Clemmons. They also alerted hospitals to be on the lookout for a man seeking treatment for gunshot wounds.
University of Washington officials alerted students by e-mail and text messages to an unconfirmed report that Clemmons might have gotten off a bus on or near the campus about three miles from the home.
Investigators also examined the coffee shop for clues. Sheriff’s spokesman Lt. Dave McDonald said that authorities found a handgun carried by the killer, along with a pickup truck belonging to the suspect with blood stains inside.
“He was very versed with the weapon,” Troyer said earlier. “This wasn’t something where the windows were shot up and there bullets sprayed around the place. The bullets hit their targets.”
Killed were Sgt. Mark Renninger, 39, and Officers Ronald Owens, 37, Tina Griswold, 40, and Greg Richards, 42.
Clemmons has an extensive violent criminal history from Arkansas, dating back to his teenage burglary and robbery spree. Huckabee’s decision to commute his sentence could create a “Willie Horton” problem for the Republican former governor if he runs for president again in 2012.
During the 1988 White House campaign, Massachusetts Gov. Michael Dukakis was criticized after Horton, a killer serving a life sentence, robbed and raped a woman while on a weekend furlough from prison.
On Sunday, Huckabee issued this statement on his Web site: “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.”
In seeking leniency from Huckabee, Clemmons wrote the parole board that he was a “misguided fool” when he committed the crimes and “learned through the school of hard knocks to appreciate and respect the rights of others.”
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.
[color=]Clemmons was charged in Washington state earlier this year with assaulting a police officer and raping a child,[/color] and investigators in the sex case said he was motivated 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 punching a sheriff’s deputy in the face. In another, 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.
Neighbors said Clemmons had surveillance cameras installed along the bushes in front of his house, and had mostly kept his blinds shut since he was accused of throwing rocks through the windows of his neighbors’ cars and houses earlier this year.
Neighbor Ken Dietiker said he initially thought Clemmons’ cameras were there to prevent crime. “But now I’m starting to think he’s just paranoid,” he said.
Dietiker said he was frustrated to learn about Clemmons’ record and releases from custody.
“There were all these indicators. Who didn’t see them?” he asked. “That’s what I want to know.”
Link to article:
http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/World/2009/11/30/11977546-ap.html
*********************************************
This has got to be just devastating to the people on the Lakewood PD. The death of just one officer even on a large force is a horrifying thing. Imagine losing four all at once on a force of only one hundred officers.
R.I.P. to those slain and all prayers and wishes to those who survive them.
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The Winnipeg Free Press is reporting that the Clemmons is dead.
The usual caveats apply,
http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/breakingnews/Seattle-police-shoot-kill-suspect-in-coffee-shop-slaying-of-4-officers-in-Tacoma-suburb.html
SEATTLE - The man suspected of gunning down four police officers in a suburban coffee shop was shot and killed by a lone Seattle patrol officer investigating a stolen car early Tuesday, a sheriff's spokesman said. Four other people were arrested for allegedly helping the suspect elude authorities during a massive two-day manhunt.
A Seattle police officer came across the stolen car in a working-class south Seattle neighbourhood about 2:45 a.m., Assistant Police Chief Jim Pugel said. The officer approached the car, then detected movement behind him, recognized the suspect Maurice Clemmons and ordered him to show his hands and stop.
More on Link
The usual caveats apply,
http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/breakingnews/Seattle-police-shoot-kill-suspect-in-coffee-shop-slaying-of-4-officers-in-Tacoma-suburb.html
SEATTLE - The man suspected of gunning down four police officers in a suburban coffee shop was shot and killed by a lone Seattle patrol officer investigating a stolen car early Tuesday, a sheriff's spokesman said. Four other people were arrested for allegedly helping the suspect elude authorities during a massive two-day manhunt.
A Seattle police officer came across the stolen car in a working-class south Seattle neighbourhood about 2:45 a.m., Assistant Police Chief Jim Pugel said. The officer approached the car, then detected movement behind him, recognized the suspect Maurice Clemmons and ordered him to show his hands and stop.
More on Link
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OK folks, I cleaned up this thread from the point of "the misunderstanding" on.
I know that all involved had the same train of thought but the wording led to the anarchy.
Rest In Peace, Officers.
Bruce
I know that all involved had the same train of thought but the wording led to the anarchy.
Rest In Peace, Officers.
Bruce
S
sm1lodon
Guest
I was talking to an ex-RCMP officer today. I told him I appreciate what the police do, how they are a force for stability that has a positive effect that is way out of proportion to their numbers.
I commented that without police, it is amazing how swiftly a society can degenerate into a mob-ruled anarchic wasteland.
I appreciate the work that police do. I would not want to be one, where your enemies could not be recognized from your allies even at 1 foot of range.
At least in the military, I said, for the most part, you can shoot your enemies before they shoot you.
Of course, in Afghanistan, the enemies do seem to blend with the local populace so it is largely the same problem.
A strike against police is, to me, a blow that also undermines our freedom and security. I'm glad they got the guy. Ironically, as he was probably trying to murder another policeman, whose adherence to his training saved him, and possibly others from a similar fate.
I commented that without police, it is amazing how swiftly a society can degenerate into a mob-ruled anarchic wasteland.
I appreciate the work that police do. I would not want to be one, where your enemies could not be recognized from your allies even at 1 foot of range.
At least in the military, I said, for the most part, you can shoot your enemies before they shoot you.
Of course, in Afghanistan, the enemies do seem to blend with the local populace so it is largely the same problem.
A strike against police is, to me, a blow that also undermines our freedom and security. I'm glad they got the guy. Ironically, as he was probably trying to murder another policeman, whose adherence to his training saved him, and possibly others from a similar fate.
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Major tribute planned to honor the slain officers:
http://www.thenewstribune.com/news/local/story/977177.html
"More than 20,000 law enforcement personnel are expected to honor the four slain Lakewood police officers at a memorial service next Tuesday at the Tacoma Dome."
There are a few members of our MP unit heading down, most likely more from the local area as well. While this type of even won't bring the men back, I hope the community support will help the families of the fallen find strength in their time of grief.
http://www.thenewstribune.com/news/local/story/977177.html
"More than 20,000 law enforcement personnel are expected to honor the four slain Lakewood police officers at a memorial service next Tuesday at the Tacoma Dome."
There are a few members of our MP unit heading down, most likely more from the local area as well. While this type of even won't bring the men back, I hope the community support will help the families of the fallen find strength in their time of grief.
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How does this make you feel?
1000 RCMP marching at the memorial service.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YlnuObVXwOU&feature=player_embedded
Proud, eh.
1000 RCMP marching at the memorial service.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YlnuObVXwOU&feature=player_embedded
Proud, eh.
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Incredible. Thanks for posting that.
The support we rec'd from our Southern brothers and sisters after Mayerthorpe was outstanding.
In this day and age where the majority of civilians like to express outrage at every police action or inaction, we have to support each other.
Recently there hasn't been much to make my back stiffen at the sight of members marching...this is one of them!
Maintien le Droit
Noneck
In this day and age where the majority of civilians like to express outrage at every police action or inaction, we have to support each other.
Recently there hasn't been much to make my back stiffen at the sight of members marching...this is one of them!
Maintien le Droit
Noneck
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that video is... words cannot describe... 
As a former member of the RCMP and having resided now in Lakewood for a number of years, the sight of a thousand RCMP members marching into the Tacoma Dome was very moving.
The city has been incredible in trying to create a comprehensive and meaningful tribute to those fallen officers.
Since the 29th the streets of Lakewood have been filled with units from as far north as Skagit county and as far south as Vancouver WA. These police officers have not just being visiting to pay their respects, but also to work, freeing up Lakewood Officers to look after the families and put together the memorial. It's something to see a Kenmore PD car pulling over a vehicle with an Okanogan Sheriffs SUV as back up! Lakewood is one of the only departments to use digital radios so they cannot communicate directly with most other departments. So the dispatching of visiting units is a bit ad hoc.
I didn't see much on the CBC when I check, but the local stations here covered it fairly well. The people here were incredibly supportive of Canada's participation to the extent that not only was the Canadian flag carried second only to the US flag, but that 'O Canada' was sung after the Star Spangled Banner. The US media were very impressed and talked about the Canadian attendance, noting the RCMP had numbers stronger than any other individual department! The spokesperson for the event Sgt John Urquhart, from the King County Sheriff’s Department had nothing but praise for the Canadians and several commenters’s made note of the loss of 4 of our own at Mayerthorpe. Several talked about the RCMP knowing and feeling Lakewood’s loss.
The start of the memorial was begun by a procession of police and fire vehicles from McChord Air force base to the Tacoma Dome. Over 2000 vehicles from as far away as Chicago and Minnesota took part. The start time of 1300hrs was pushed back several times as the families wanted anyone who had taken the time and trouble to attend to be able to see the service. At 0230 the vehicles were still leaving McChord and due to the problems with so many cars to park a shuttle using buses was started! It was an amazing sight.
This incident comes not even a month after Seattle PD Officer Timothy Brenton was shot and killed as he and his trainee were sitting in their car Halloween night. The widow of Officer Brenton, Lisa Brenton, has magnanimously directed that funds that have been recently been raised for her and her family be directed to the nine children the Lakewood Officers leave behind.
It’s been a hard couple of months in Washington State for Law Enforcement.
For those interested the following links have some great video of the service:
http://www.king5.com/news/Huge-procession-delays-Lakewood-police-memorial-78817502.html
http://www.kirotv.com/news/21902332/detail.html#COMMENTTOP
http://www.komonews.com/news/local/78768412.html
The city has been incredible in trying to create a comprehensive and meaningful tribute to those fallen officers.
Since the 29th the streets of Lakewood have been filled with units from as far north as Skagit county and as far south as Vancouver WA. These police officers have not just being visiting to pay their respects, but also to work, freeing up Lakewood Officers to look after the families and put together the memorial. It's something to see a Kenmore PD car pulling over a vehicle with an Okanogan Sheriffs SUV as back up! Lakewood is one of the only departments to use digital radios so they cannot communicate directly with most other departments. So the dispatching of visiting units is a bit ad hoc.
I didn't see much on the CBC when I check, but the local stations here covered it fairly well. The people here were incredibly supportive of Canada's participation to the extent that not only was the Canadian flag carried second only to the US flag, but that 'O Canada' was sung after the Star Spangled Banner. The US media were very impressed and talked about the Canadian attendance, noting the RCMP had numbers stronger than any other individual department! The spokesperson for the event Sgt John Urquhart, from the King County Sheriff’s Department had nothing but praise for the Canadians and several commenters’s made note of the loss of 4 of our own at Mayerthorpe. Several talked about the RCMP knowing and feeling Lakewood’s loss.
The start of the memorial was begun by a procession of police and fire vehicles from McChord Air force base to the Tacoma Dome. Over 2000 vehicles from as far away as Chicago and Minnesota took part. The start time of 1300hrs was pushed back several times as the families wanted anyone who had taken the time and trouble to attend to be able to see the service. At 0230 the vehicles were still leaving McChord and due to the problems with so many cars to park a shuttle using buses was started! It was an amazing sight.
This incident comes not even a month after Seattle PD Officer Timothy Brenton was shot and killed as he and his trainee were sitting in their car Halloween night. The widow of Officer Brenton, Lisa Brenton, has magnanimously directed that funds that have been recently been raised for her and her family be directed to the nine children the Lakewood Officers leave behind.
It’s been a hard couple of months in Washington State for Law Enforcement.
For those interested the following links have some great video of the service:
http://www.king5.com/news/Huge-procession-delays-Lakewood-police-memorial-78817502.html
http://www.kirotv.com/news/21902332/detail.html#COMMENTTOP
http://www.komonews.com/news/local/78768412.html
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Further.
The RCMP were at the Seahawks game on Sunday. They played 0'Canada prior to the silence.
On the stage at the memorial were three flags: the Stars and Stripes, the Washington State flag, and the Canadian flag.
The RCMP were at the Seahawks game on Sunday. They played 0'Canada prior to the silence.
On the stage at the memorial were three flags: the Stars and Stripes, the Washington State flag, and the Canadian flag.
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Thank you for posting that video clip, Rifleman62.
It's great to see that kind of solidarity between the two nations.
It's great to see that kind of solidarity between the two nations.
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I attended in civies and it was indeed a well done tribute.
RCMP made an impression, that's for sure. A little harder to see but almost as numerous was Vancouver PD.
I also saw Abbotsford, Port Moody, Delta and New West (Hope Im not forgetting anyone).
Unfortunately my request to wear DEUs and/or be allowed a MP MilCOTS for the procession came too late and couldn't get cleared through the proper channels.
RCMP made an impression, that's for sure. A little harder to see but almost as numerous was Vancouver PD.
I also saw Abbotsford, Port Moody, Delta and New West (Hope Im not forgetting anyone).
Unfortunately my request to wear DEUs and/or be allowed a MP MilCOTS for the procession came too late and couldn't get cleared through the proper channels.
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Just awesome, I only wish it was under better circumstances...................
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