Update - 5:55 pm MST: Clemmons family may be helping him avoid capture
"The sources said they suspect Maurice Clemmons' friends and family are trying to throw investigators off his trail as the 37-year-old tries to avoid capture. Ever since Clemmons was named as a suspect in the fatal shooting of the Lakewood officers, police agencies have been inundated with calls and tips. (more than 500 so far) Detectives said they now believe some false leads came from people trying to buy Clemmons time by keep search teams busy."
Update - 3:30 pm MST: BOLO alert from the Seattle Times Twitter feed. Cancelled, The car has been located and had been sold two months ago. (Gee, now I wonder how Judge Humphrey feels.)
Police are looking for the wife of suspected cop killer Maurice Clemmons, and have told officers to be on the lookout for her car, possibly headed to Arkansas. Notice went out about 12:15 p.m. for officers to be on the lookout for a green 1997 Mazda Millenia with Washington license plate 208-SSX, registered to Clemmons' wife, Nicole Cheryleen Smith.Update - 1:00 pm MST: Still in pursuit - hope it's not a wild goose chase. "An alert was issued this morning to law enforcement in Eastern Washington saying that the suspect in Sunday’s murder of four police officers may be in a car heading east on Interstate 90"
Update - 11:40 am MST: Hot pursuit yields no trace of suspect.
About 10 a.m. officers raced to Jose Rizal Park in Beacon Hill after someone reported seeing Clemmons there. By 10:30, officers had walked the park with police dogs and were confident Clemmons wasn't there, either.
Update - 11:20 am MST: A moving tribute to the fallen officers can be found here. For example: Mark Renninger was an "accomplished SWAT team tactitian", Greg Richards was "a drummer in a rock band", Ronnie Owens was the "laid back, dirt bike riding one" and Tina Griswold was "a proud member of the Olympic Tea Party movement". Please take a moment to read about them and remember their service.
Update - 11:10 am MST: Live press conference on KOMO featuring Lakewood PD officers and local officials.
Update - 9:58 am MST: The reward for information leading to the capture of Maurice Clemmons has been increased to $125,000. Toll free tip line 866-977-2362. Locals call Crimestoppers at 253-591-5959
Update - 9:45 am MST: Heads up. "University of Washington police have alerted students to an unconfirmed report that the suspect in the Lakewood police shootings may have been sighted on or near the campus in Seattle. Cmdr. Jerome Solomon says someone reported that Maurice Clemmons was seen getting off a bus about 7 a.m. Monday near the university's hospital. He says police are checking the area."
Update - 8:55 am MST: Pierce County Sheriff Ed Troyer is now reporting that the handgun used in yesterday's slayings has been recovered. The neighborhood remains under lockdown conditions and the Seattle PD has assumed command of the search for Clemmons.
Update - 8:27 am MST: The News Tribune is reporting that suspect Clemmons has not been found in the Leschi neighborhood home referenced below - neighborhood remains in lockdown and the search continues.
Update - 7:50 am MST: Per KOMO News SWAT teams have now entered the house. Maurice Clemmons is now officially considered to be a suspect and the standoff at the home in the Leschi neighborhood continues where authorities believe the suspect may already be dead.
From KIRO News:
Troyer told KIRO 7 that Clemmons has been upgraded from a "person of interest" to a "suspect" because investigators now have evidence he was wounded during the Sunday morning attack at a Parkland coffee shop. Troyer says Clemmons may have died from those wounds.
Seattle Police spokesman Jeff Kappel says the suspect is at the scene of a standoff in Seattle's Leschi neighborhood.
Troyer says several other people have already been detained and more may be taken into custody in Seattle and Pierce County.
Governor Huckabee's statement regarding the incident. It's all the system's fault, man.
The senseless and savage execution of police officers in Washington State has saddened the nation, and early reports indicate that a person of interest is a repeat offender who once lived in Arkansas and was wanted on outstanding warrants here and in Washington State. The murder of any individual is a profound tragedy, but the murder of a police officer is the worst of all murders in that it is an assault on every citizen and the laws we live within.
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. He was recommended for and received a commutation of his original sentence from 1990, this commutation made him parole eligible and he was then paroled by the parole board once they determined he met the conditions at that time. He was arrested later for parole violation and taken back to prison to serve his full term, but prosecutors dropped the charges that would have held him. It appears that he has continued to have a string of criminal and psychotic behavior but was not kept incarcerated by either state. This is a horrible and tragic event and if found and convicted the offender should be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law. Our thoughts and prayers are and should be with the families of those honorable, brave, and heroic police officers.
About Governor Huckabee's record of clemency.
The one-time Republican presidential contender granted twice as many pardons and commutations as the previous three governors of Arkansas combined, The Associated Press reported in 2007. In all, he issued 1,033 pardons and commutations during more than 10 years as governor — an average of about one every four days.
About Clemmons:
Clemmons was released from jail in Pierce County six days ago after posting bond. He’d spent the past several months in jail on a charge of child rape. His release came even though he faced seven additional felony charges in Washington state.
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