NEW YORK – A two-day manhunt for a released convict suspected of killing four police officers ended yesterday when he was shot dead.
Maurice Clemmons (37), had been on the run since Sunday after the slayings in a coffee shop in a Tacoma suburb, south of Seattle.
Authorities initially believed the suspect was hiding in a nearby home, but were forced to widen their search after it was found the armed man had fled.
It is claimed Clemmons killed Sgt Mark Renninger (39) and officers Ronald Owens (37), Tina Griswold (40) and Greg Richards (42) as they worked on laptops in the coffee shop in Pierce County.
The suspect had a lengthy criminal record. In 1989 he was given a 95-year sentence in Arkansas for offences including robbery and bringing a gun to school. He was later given clemency by then-state governor Mike Huckerbee.
It has been reported that on the night before the shootings, Clemmons bragged he was going to kill police. This was not reported until after the coffee shop shootings.
After the killings, marksmen and negotiators surrounded a property where Clemmons was believed to be hiding. After many hours it was found he was not there but was on the run.
A massive manhunt followed where police combed the area with dogs and hundreds of officers searched in and around Seattle.
Clemmons’s end came at about 2.45am local time. A police officer investigating a stolen car recognised the suspect. He was carrying a handgun which turned out to have been stolen from one of the dead officers. The officer ordered Clemmons to put his hands up. He refused and several rounds were fired, killing him.
Clemmons had also been shot by one of the officers he killed. His escape led police to believe he had had help from friends or family, and a Pierce County Sheriff spokesman said they expected to detain six or seven people.