Kuwait Times

Published Date: December 02, 2009

SEATTLE: US police yesterday shot dead a man suspected of slaying four police officers, after the alleged gunman approached an officer investigating a stolen vehicle, local authorities said. The killing brought a close to a nearly two-day saga in which a convicted felon walked into a coffee shop and mowed down four police, then evaded authorities who surrounded a house for hours only to find he was not inside.

The ordeal ended when alleged gunman Maurice Clemmons approached from behind an officer who was investigating an empty car that was left in a Seattle suburb with its engine running, said Jim Pugel, assistant chief of the Seattle Police. The officer "detected some movement behind him" and "thought he recognized the person who was approaching him" as the suspected gunman in the lethal cop shootings two days earlier, Pugel said. "He wouldn't stop. The officer fired several rounds," said Pugel. "All indication
s are that (the suspect) is deceased.

Clemmons, who has previously tangled with law enforcement over a slew of crimes from burglary to child rape, was the chief suspect in the killing of four officers who were shot down in a Tacoma coffee shop on Sunday. Clemmons yesterday was found in possession of a weapon taken from that crime scene. Authorities missed an earlier opportunity to apprehend Clemmons on Monday, when he eluded a police dragnet at his home in Seattle's Leschi neighborhood.

After waiting for 11 hours outside the house where Clemmons was believed holed up, the house was found to be empty and police continued their search, aided by a $125,000 reward for his information leading to his capture. At least three people have been arrested on suspicion of aiding Clemmons. Pierce County Sheriff's Office spokesman Ed Troyer said earlier the shootings may have been motivated by Clemmons' hatred of law enforcement. He was released on bail just last week, after being held for several month
s on charges of assaulting a police officer and child rape.

Troyer said it did not appear that Clemmons had a specific reason for targeting the officers involved, saying he was "upset about being incarcerated". "He was just targeting cops," Troyer said. All four officers, members of the fledgling Lakewood Police Department founded in 2004, were married with children. The small community of Lakewood and its five-year-old police force were left reeling from the attack, and city manager Andrew Neiditz called the shootings "an outrageous, senseless act of violence.

Clemmons served only part of a 35-year prison sentence in Arkansas before it was commuted in 2000 by then-governor Mike Huckabee, who sought the Republican presidential nomination in 2008. After his release Clemmons committed two armed robberies and a string of other crimes which earned him another 10 year sentence. He was later paroled and moved to Washington state. - AFP