Cop-Killer, Maurice Clemmons, Sought by Police

Maurice Clemmons, 37, has been identified as a "person of interest" and is being actively sought by the Lakeland Police Dept. regarding to the execution-style killing of four police officers at the Forza coffee shop near Tacoma, Wa. on Sunday, Nov. 29, 2009 around 8:15 am.

He is said to have an extensive criminal record, including at least five felony convictions in Arkansas and at least eight felony charges in Washington state. He was released on $15,000 bond just six days ago on his latest charge -- second-degree rape of a child.

Clemmons lives in Tacoma, where he ran a landscaping and power-washing business. He has been known to behave erratically giving rise to concerns about his mental health.

The City of Lakewood has released the following information on the four slain police officers:

 Mark Renninger, Tina Griswold, Ronald Owens, Greg Richards

Sergeant Mark Renninger, age 39 with thirteen years of law enforcement experience. He is survived by a wife and three children.

Officer Tina Griswold, age 40 with fourteen years of law enforcement experience. She is survived by her husband and two children.

Officer Ronald Owen, age 37 with twelve years of law enforcement experience. He is survived by a former wife and a daughter.

Officer Greg Richards, age 42 with eight years of law enforcement experience. He is survived by a wife and three children.

The incident began around 8:15 on the morning of Sunday, Nov. 29, 2009. A gunman, believed to be Maurice Clemmons, entered the Forza coffee shop and approached the counter. The attendant asked for his order and the gunman opened his jacket, revealing a weapon. The employee fled. The gunman then turned his attention to four police officers who were sitting at a nearby table in the process of doing paperwork on their computers in preparation for their upcoming shift.

“Two of them were just flat executed, sitting writing reports,” Ed Troyer, a spokesman for the Pierce County Sheriff’s Office, said of the officers, who worked for the Police Department in Lakewood, just south of Tacoma. “One of them stood up and tried to go for the suspect and got shot. Then the fourth one fought his way out to the parking lot and fired off some rounds.”

It is believed that the fourth police officer, who had fought with the gunman, was able to fire his weapon, wounding the suspect, before he was killed.

“We hope that he hit him,” Mr. Troyer said of the officer, who fired at the suspect before dying from gunshot wounds. “If he’s hit, that means he’s injured somewhere with a gunshot wound. He’s going to have to get that taken care of sometime, someplace,” he said.

Authorities are offering a $120,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of the person involved in this morning's fatal shooting, described as a black man who is between 5-feet-7-inches and 5-feet-10-inches tall, and wearing a black coat and blue jeans in the Lakewood, Wash. area. Anybody with information is asked to call 253-591-5959 or 866-977-2362.

Maurice Clemmons' criminal history began when he was 17 years old in 1989. He was sentenced to a 48-year prison term on five felony convictions. The next year he was given an additional 60-year sentence for burglary and theft of property. Clemmons served 11 years before being released. He had his sentenced reduced by then Gov. Mike Huckabee, who cited his young age when he had committed those crimes.

After being released, and while on parole, Clemmons was again arrested, in 2001, for aggravated robbery and theft. Those charges were eventually dropped by the prosecution for "technical reasons". Clemmons then moved to Washington state in 2004 where he continued to get himself in trouble. 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 - after posting $15,000 bail with a Chehalis company called Jail Sucks Bail Bonds - just six days before gunning down the four police officers.

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