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Old 11-29-2009, 11:43 AM
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Angry Official: 4 police officers shot dead in Wash.

Official: 4 police officers shot dead in Wash.

The Associated Press

TACOMA, Wash. Four police officers were shot and killed Sunday morning in what authorities called a targeted ambush at a coffee house in Washington state, a sheriff's official said.

Pierce County Sheriff's spokesman Ed Troyer told The News Tribune in Tacoma one or two gunmen burst into the Forza Coffee Co. and shot the four uniformed officers as they were working on their laptop computers, then fled the scene.

Troyer said investigators believe the officers were targeted, and it was not a robbery.

"It looks like a flat-out ambush," Troyer told the newspaper.

The four officers were about to go to work, Troyer said. He said officers were looking for a male suspect who fled on foot, and "at this point we may be looking for another person."

He could not immediately say what agency the officers were from. The coffee shop is near McChord Air Force Base in Tacoma, about 35 miles south of Seattle.

"The four of them are known by everybody here," Troyer said. "We haven't got any information as to why this happened."

Roads were blocked around the attack. 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.

The baristas who were inside the shop are "stunned and shocked, traumatized," Troyer said.

"We hopefully will have answers, but there is nothing more we can tell you," Troyer told KING-TV. "That's as cold-hearted as it is."

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.

Christopher Monfort, 41, of suburban Tukwila, was charged in the shooting. Days after the shooting, Seattle detectives attempted to question Monfort at his residence. Police say that Monfort then ran from the detectives and tried to use a gun. The detective shot him.

Authorities also linked Monfort to the October firebombing of four police vehicles, with prosecutors saying Monfort waged a "one-man war" against law enforcement.

Monfort remained hospitalized.

http://www.tri-cityherald.com/945/story/810714.html
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Old 11-29-2009, 03:06 PM
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just watched this on TV and my thought are the same as when Ft Hood was attacked a deranged Musilum I hope i'm wrong because a blood bath against rag heads would insue up here.
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Old 11-29-2009, 07:21 PM
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Huckabee Paroled Cop Killer

The Seattle Times has identified a suspect in today's shooting of four Lakeland, WA police officers in a local coffee shop:
A 37-year-old Tacoma man, Maurice Clemmons, is being sought for questioning in the execution-style shooting of four Lakewood police officers this morning, according to two law-enforcement sources.

Clemmons, who was recently released from jail, has an extensive criminal record in Pierce County and Arkansas, court records show. Clemmons is wanted in Arkansas and faces eight criminal charges in Washington state.

While governor of Arkansas, 2008 Republican Presidential candidate Mike Huckebee paroled a violent repeat offender by that same name as noted in this 2004 article:
Maurice Clemmons received a 35-year sentence in the early 1990s for armed robbery and theft. His sentence was commuted in May 2000, and he was let out three months later.
The following March, Clem-mons committed two armed robberies and other crimes and was sentenced to 10 years.

You'd think they'd keep him locked up after that, but no: He was paroled last March and is now wanted for aggravated robbery.

If Huckabee decides to set these criminals free, Jegley says, at least "he ought to give an accounting. I can't imagine why in the world they'd want them released from jail. There's a good reason we're afraid of them. The sad truth is that a significant number of people re-offend."

The victims' families, Jegley says, "deserve an explanation. I look into people's eyes who've suffered the unspeakable. I believe they deserve justice.

If Huckabee—now a Fox News personality—did set this man free, his aspirations for a future White House run may be over.

Update: The Times confirms that Huckabee set this suspect free.

http://confederateyankee.mu.nu/archives/295247.php
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Old 11-29-2009, 07:27 PM
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Maurice Clemmons, man wanted for questioning, has troubling criminal history

The man sought for questioning in the execution of four Lakewood police officers was granted clemency in 2000 by former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and released on bail just six days ago on a child rape charge in Washington state.

By Seattle Times staff





Maurice Clemmons, the 37-year-old Tacoma man being sought for questioning in the killing this morning of four Lakewood police officers, has a long criminal record punctuated by violence, erratic behavior and concerns about his mental health.

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

"This is the day I've been dreading for a long time," Larry Jegley, prosecuting attorney for Arkansas' Pulaski County said tonight when informed that Clemmons was being sought for questioning in connection with the killings.

Clemmons' criminal history includes at least five felony convictions in Arkansas and at least eight felony charges in Washington. The record also stands out for the number of times he has been released from custody despite questions about the danger he posed.

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 he was wanted on a fugitive warrant out of Arkansas and 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.

Clemmons lives in Tacoma, where he has run a landscaping and power-washing business out of his house, according to a police interview with his wife earlier this year.

He was married, but the relationship was tumultuous, with accounts of his unpredictable behavior leading to at least two confrontations with police earlier this year.

During the confrontation in May, Clemmons punched a sheriff's deputy in the face, according to court records. As part of that incident, he was charged with seven counts of assault and malicious mischief.

In another instance, Clemmons was accused of gathering his wife and young relatives around at 3 or 4 in the morning and having them all undress. He told them that families need to "be naked for at least 5 minutes on Sunday," a Pierce County sheriff's report says.

"The whole time Clemmons kept saying things like trust him, the world is going to end soon, and that he was Jesus," the report says.

As part of the child-rape investigation, the sheriff's office interviewed Clemmons' sister in May. She told them that "Maurice is not in his right mind and did not know how he could react when contacted by Law Enforcement," a sheriff's report says.

"She stated that he was saying that the secret service was coming to get him because he had written a letter to the President. She stated his behavior has become unpredictable and erratic. She suspects he is having a mental breakdown," the report says.

Deputies also interviewed other family members. They reported that Clemmons had been saying he could fly and that he expected President Obama to visit to "confirm that he is Messiah in the flesh."

Prosecutors in Pierce County were sufficiently concerned about Clemmons' mental health that they asked to have him evaluated at Western State Hospital. Earlier this month, on Nov. 6, a psychologist concluded that Clemmons was competent to stand trial on the child-rape and other felony charges, according to court records.

Clemmons moved Washington in 2004, after being released from prison in Arkansas, state Department of Corrections records indicate. That would mean he had gone five years or so before landing in serious trouble with authorities here, according to a review of his criminal record.

Clemmons started Sea-Wash Pressure Washing Landscaping with his wife, Nicole Smith, in October 2005. The license for the business expired last month.

Long history of trouble in Arkansas

News accounts out of Arkansas offer a confusing — and, at times, conflicting — description of Clemmons' criminal history and prison time.

In 1990, Clemmons, then 18, was sentenced in Arkansas to 60 years in prison for burglary and theft of property, according to a news account in Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. Newspaper stories describe a series of disturbing incidents involving Clemmons while he was being tried in Arkansas on various charges.

During one trial, Clemmons was shackled in leg irons and seated next to a uniformed officer. The presiding judge ordered the extra security because he felt Clemmons had threatened him, court records show.

Another time, Clemmons hid a hinge in his sock, and was accused of intending to use it as a weapon. Yet another time, Clemmons took a lock from a holding cell, and threw it toward the bailiff. He missed and instead hit Clemmons' mother, who had come to bring him street clothes, according to records and published reports.

On another occasion, Clemmons had reached for a guard's pistol during transport to the courtroom.

When Clemmons received the 60-year sentence, he was already serving 48 years on five felony convictions and facing up to 95 more years on charges of robbery, theft of property and possessing a handgun on school property. Records from Clemmons' sentencing described him as 5-foot-7 and 108 pounds. The crimes were committed when he was 17.

Clemmons served 11 years before being released.

News accounts say Huckabee commuted Clemmons' sentence, citing Clemmons' young age at the time the crimes were committed.

But Clemmons remained on parole — and soon after landed in trouble again. In March 2001, he was accused of violating his parole by committing aggravated robbery and theft, according to a story in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.

He was returned to prison on a parole violation. But in what appears to have been a mistake, Clemmons was not actually served with the arrest warrants until leaving prison three years later. As a result, Clemmons' attorney argued that the charges should be dismissed because too much time had passed. Prosecutors dropped the charges.

It appears that Clemmons remained in trouble with Arkansas authorities even after moving away. This year, while Clemmons was living in Washington, a warrant was issued for his arrest, accusing him of being a fugitive from Arkansas.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/htm...yndication=rss
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Old 12-01-2009, 05:43 AM
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Thumbs up Seattle police kill suspect in officer slayings

Seattle police kill suspect in officer slayings


Reuters – Maurice Clemmons, 37, a person of interest in the shootings of four Lakewood Department police officers …



By GENE JOHNSON, Associated Press Writer Gene Johnson, Associated Press Writer 23-0800>8 mins ago
23-0800>
SEATTLE – Authorities say a man who gunned down four police officers was shot and killed by a lone officer who found the suspect in a stolen vehicle on a Seattle street.

Assistant Police Chief Jim Pugel says 37-year-old Maurice Clemmons was killed about 2:45 a.m. Tuesday. Pugel says the officer found the car, which had been recently stolen, recognized Clemmons and ordered him to show his hands and stop. Pugel says Clemmons wouldn't stop, and the officer fired several rounds.

A couple dozen police officers milled around at the scene, shaking hands and patting each other on the back later Tuesday morning.

Authorities say Clemmons singled out the Lakewood officers and spared others at a coffee shop Sunday morning in Parkland, about 35 miles south of Seattle.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091201/...WF0dGxlcG9saWM-
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Old 12-01-2009, 10:48 PM
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The Hucklebee situation has been really taken out of context. The Hucklebee parden was given out to the man because he had been convicted of a crime when he was 16.
He'd been in prison since he was 16. Also, Hucklebee's pardon didn't release him from prison but lifted the life sentence and made him elgible for parole. It was the parole board that granted him parole, and not Hucklebee as such, though the Govenor did release him from a life sentence. Since being release he had many, many run ins with the law. Finally he was arrested for Raping a 12 year old girl. The judges in Seattle that gave him a bail of only $15,000 made it possible for him to get out of jail. The prosecuters wanted $150,000. So, the major blame goes to the liberal Seattle judges.

Keith
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Old 12-02-2009, 10:23 AM
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Default More charges likely in Washington police killing

AP


SEATTLE – With an ex-convict suspected in the coffee-shop ambush killings of four police officers now dead, authorities focused on pursuing those who may have helped him escape and stay on the lam for two days amid a frantic manhunt.

Prosecutors were expected Wednesday to charge Maurice Clemmons' alleged getaway driver, Darcus D. Allen, according to Pierce County sheriff's spokesman Ed Troyer. Authorities accuse Allen, a convicted murderer who served time in an Arkansas prison with Clemmons, of being the getaway driver for Clemmons as he fled the scene of the shootings at coffee shop in Parkland early Sunday.

Two women accused of giving Clemmons first aid and rides also may be charged Wednesday in Tacoma, Troyer said.

He said Clemmons' aunt, Letricia Nelson, was arrested Tuesday evening in Pacific, northest of Tacoma, for allegedly giving first aid to Clemmons, helping him change clothes and making arrangements to get him to other locations. Arrested around the same time in Des Moines, Wash., was Quiana Maylea Williams, an acquaintance of Clemmons. Both women are being held in the Pierce County jail.

Three other people appeared Tuesday in Pierce County Superior Court. Two brothers, Eddie Lee Davis and Douglas Edward Davis, are charged with rendering criminal assistance. A third man, Clemmons' half-brother Rickey Hinton, was ordered held pending charges.

Clemmons, 37, was shot to death early Tuesday by a Seattle police officer.

His death ended two days of fear across the Seattle-Tacoma area and a huge manhunt. Dozens of police officers milled around at the scene afterward, some solemnly shaking hands and patting each other on the back.

Officer Benjamin Kelly had spotted a stolen car, its hood up and engine running, on a south Seattle street and pulled over to check it out. As the patrolman sat in his cruiser, a burly man with a large mole on his cheek came up from behind, Assistant Seattle Police Chief Jim Pugel said.

The officer turned, stepped outside his car and recognized the most wanted man in the Pacific Northwest. Clemmons was shot by the patrolman after Clemmons made a move for a gun he had taken from one of the slain officers, police said.

"Good thing he wasn't able to get the gun out here or we might have had a different ending to this whole thing," Pierce County sheriff's spokesman Ed Troyer said. "The officer in Seattle did a good job of making sure he went home safe."

Clemmons eluded capture thanks to family and friends who provided him with shelter, cell phones, cash and first aid for the severe wound he suffered when one of the dying officers in Sunday morning's Pierce County coffee-shop rampage got off a shot, police said. Six to seven of those associates were being arrested.

Among them, police said, was Allen, who served in prison with Clemmons in Arkansas and is accused of driving the getaway truck after the coffee shop rampage; the Davis brothers, accused of traveling with Clemmons as he eluded police; and a woman who allegedly bandaged him up and gave him a lift part way to Seattle.

It wasn't immediately known if she or Allen had attorneys; the other two have pleaded not guilty.

"Some are friends, some are acquaintances, some are partners in crime, some are relatives. Now they're all partners in crime," Troyer said.

Troyer said paramedics were stunned that Clemmons lived as long as he did with the bullet wound.

It was not entirely clear where Clemmons was while on the run. But authorities believe he visited locations in Seattle, Pacific and Auburn in the hours after the ambush in the Tacoma suburb of Parkland, according to Pierce County documents filed in the case against Eddie Lee Davis, one of those charged with rendering assistance.

On Sunday, Clemmons briefly took refuge at a house in Seattle's well-to-do Leschi neighborhood, slipping away before police surrounded the home in an all-night siege that ended when SWAT officers stormed the place and realized he wasn't there.

Before Clemmons arrived at the Seattle house, a woman described by police as a friend bought medical supplies for him and helped treat the gunshot wound. Clemmons also washed and dried a load of laundry at her house, according to court documents.

Clemmons has a violent, erratic past, and authorities in Washington state and Arkansas — where then-Gov. Mike Huckabee in 2000 commuted his 108-year prison sentence for armed robbery and other offenses — are facing tough questions about why an apparently violent and deranged man was out on the street.

In a statement posted on the conservative Newsmax.com Web site, Huckabee said: "I take full responsibility for my actions of nine years ago. I acted on the facts presented to me in 2000. If I could have possibly known what Clemmons would do nine years later, I obviously would have made a different decision. But if the same file was presented to me today, I would have likely made the same decision."

Court documents say police first suspected Clemmons after finding an abandoned pickup truck registered to a business address of his. A truck matching that description was seen fleeing the ambush scene by the baristas who witnessed the start of the attack.

"The only motive that we have is he decided he was going to go kill police officers," Troyer said. Investigators also reported that Clemmons told others the night before the shooting that he was going to kill police and they should watch the news, but they wrote it off as "crazy-talk."

At the time of his arrest in Washington state earlier this year, investigators said Clemmons had visions that he was Jesus Christ and that the world was on the verge of the apocalypse.

He also told the officer that President Obama and LeBron James are his brothers and Oprah Winfrey is his sister, and referred to himself as "the beast," according to court papers obtained by The News Tribune of Tacoma.

A psychological evaluation in October found he was a risk to public safety, but not enough of one to justify committing him, the newspaper reported.
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Old 12-02-2009, 10:32 AM
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Default Brief bios of the slain Washington officers

AP


A look at the four police officers who were slain at a suburban coffee shop on Sunday:

Sgt. Mark Renninger, 39



Renninger was described as a cop's cop: A tough guy who excelled at his job and was regarded as a leader and teacher in the close-knit Lakewood police force.

"He was the most competent and tactically proficient man I ever knew in police work. I do not say this because he was killed and that is something you should say," Lakewood police union president Brian Wurts said. "Everyone in our department and all who knew Mark know this was true."

Relatives said Renninger, who grew up in Bethlehem, Pa., came to Washington state through military service. The East Coast native was blunt-spoken but "never belittled anyone," Wurts said.

"Mark had that spark that made you like him and respect him. He was truly a rock in our department, someone you always counted on," Wurts wrote.

The union said Renninger was married with three children.

___

Officer Tina Griswold, 40



Her sister, Tiffiny Ryan, said Griswold liked to cook, ride her dirt bike and was a certified diver.

"My worst nightmare has come true," Ryan told reporters on Monday. "I can't tell you how painful it is to lose my sister."

Griswold knew she wanted to be a police officer by the time she finished high school, a weeping Ryan said.

Their father is a retired police officer, while their mother was an administrative assistant at the Washington Supreme Court, Ryan said.

Tina Griswold began working in law enforcement as a dispatcher in Shelton, then became a police officer in Shelton and Lacey before going to work in Lakewood five years ago, Ryan said.

Griswold also has a 21-year-old daughter and a 7-year-old son, Ryan said.

___

Officer Ronald Owens, 37



Relatives said Owens — known to friends and family as Ronnie — was a lifelong resident of Parkland, the Tacoma suburb where he was killed. The police union said Owens has a daughter.

Wurts said Owens' fun-loving personality "made everyone around him feel positive."

He "was the laid-back, dirt-bike-riding, surfer-hair-having cop you would always want at a party or with you on any call," Wurts said. "Though he had a laid-back perspective, he was sharp and an extremely dedicated and hard worker."

Owens was a Washington State Patrol trooper from 1997 until 2004, when he left to join the Lakewood police, Patrol Chief John Batiste said.

"While we have many ranks and honors that we offer for exemplary service, the most coveted honor is to simply be respected by your colleagues as 'a good troop,'" Batiste said. "Ron Owens was most definitely a good troop."

___

Officer Greg Richards, 42



Richards liked nothing better than spending time with his wife Kelly and three children, the union president said.

Richards enjoyed music in his spare time, playing drums in a rock band that performed this summer at a charity event for a hospitalized fellow-officer.

Richards was liked by everyone he met, sister-in-law Melanie Burwell said. Even though the family knew his job could be dangerous, his death was a shock, she said.
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Old 12-02-2009, 11:16 AM
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I'm glad that POS was shot and killed. It will save taxpayers the expense of a trial and will eliminate the possibility of the POS getting off on an insanity defense. As for his accomplises; here's your jump suit; enjoy your stay.
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