Thursday, January 6, 2011 - Page updated at 03:30 PM
The slaying of four Lakewood police officers
On the morning of Nov. 29, 2009 — the Sunday after Thanksgiving — four uniformed Lakewood police officers were fatally ambushed in a coffee shop outside of Tacoma. Over the next 40 hours, the region was gripped with fear, as the gunman — identified as ex-convict Maurice Clemmons — was at large, still armed and certainly dangerous.
Sergeant Mark Renninger, Officer Tina Griswold, Officer Ronald Owens, Officer Gregory Richards
By Tuesday morning, Clemmons was dead, killed by a Seattle police officer in a routine traffic investigation. The story continued to unfold in the pages of The Seattle Times and on Seattletimes.com, as the community mourned the loss of Sergeant Mark Renninger and officers Tina Griswold, Ronald Owens and Gregory Richards — and as more information emerged about the criminal path of Maurice Clemmons.
Winner of the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News Reporting
4 Lakewood officers slain; ex-con sought for questioning
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.
Person of interest let out of Pierce County jail one week ago
Attack in Lakewood area worst on police in state
Slain officers respected for careers, family life
Former Arkansas Gov. Huckabee has controversial record of freeing criminals Maurice Clemmons clemency and parole documents
Shocked, grieving community holds vigil for officers
Police again see themselves as targets
Erika Schultz / The Seattle Times
Pierce County firefighters salute the procession that transported the bodies of four slain police officers from where they were killed in Parkland to the Pierce County Medical Examiner's Office in Tacoma. The procession includes police, fire and medical examiner's vehicles.
Law-enforcement officials believe Maurice Clemmons has been sheltered by family, friends
On Monday night, the Sheriff's Office launched a series of tactical operations targeting the homes of relatives and friends believed to be helping Clemmons.
CLIFF DESPEAUX / THE SEATTLE TIMES
Officers respond Sunday night to a Leschi residence near 32nd and Yesler where suspect Maurice Clemmons was reportedly seen.
Lakewood police shooting suspect shot dead by police in South Seattle early this morning
Maurice Clemmons, the suspect wanted in the slaying of four Lakewood police officers, was shot and killed in South Seattle early this morning.
CLIFF DESPEAUX / THE SEATTLE TIMES
Police cars fill the street at the 4400 block of South Kenyon Street early Tuesday morning, Dec. 1, 2009.
Public brings flowers, candles, prayers for fallen officers
A steady stream of people came to pay their respects to the fallen officers -- parents with infants and old people with canes, men in business suits and a couple in biker leathers, teenagers in sweat pants and in skinny jeans. And standing guard, in the empty parking lot outside Forza Coffee, dozens of police officers from a half-dozen nearby towns -- Milton, Sumner, Puyallup, Des Moines, University Place and Graham.
Memories of four Lakewood officers bring tears, laughter
Updates from the Lakewood Police memorial service
Police union sets up fund for slain officers
Tuesday memorial comes together swiftly
More than 20,000 people expected at Tuesday's memorial for officers
Details on memorial
Video | Thousands participated in a memorial service to mourn the loss of four Lakewood police officers.
We will remember them always
There was biting cold and hours of waiting. There were mourners pouring in by the bus load, from Bozeman and Boston, Las Vegas and Lake Stevens. There was pain and sadness and anger. Yet at the memorial service for the four fallen Lakewood police officers held Tuesday at the Tacoma Dome, it was strikingly quiet.
A path to murder: The story of Maurice Clemmons
When Maurice Clemmons moved to the Northwest, he brought with him the demons of his Arkansas past. A week ago, he shot and killed four Lakewood police officers, a crime that has shattered families and generated such tension between Washington and Arkansas that both states' governors talked at length Thursday to lower the heat.
Gallery | Maurice Clemmons: Path to Murder
Persuasive appeal helped Clemmons win clemency
Former Arkansas Gov. Huckabee has controversial record of freeing criminals
Uncle: 'He was all about money ... suddenly, he was all about God'
Four days in May set stage for Sunday's tragedy
Clemmons traveled to meet New York minister, citing God's instructions
Arkansas governor and Washington Gov. Chris Gregoire confer on parolees, Clemmons
Jerry Large | Looking at the whys of tragedy
Danny Westneat | Lost in the backlash against cops' families
Clemmons couldn't be held after 'safety net' dissolved
Clemmons' diagnosis: stress
E-mails show Washington state battled to keep Clemmons in custody
States at odds over warrant that might have kept Clemmons in jail
How the state lost track of Maurice Clemmons Maurice Clemmons clemency and parole documents DOC statement on Maurice Clemmons DOC fact sheet on Maurice Clemmons Fact sheet attachments Clemmons' criminal chronology DOC's role in Clemmons manhunt Summary of DOC role in Clemmons manhunt Clemency pardons table Additional arrests involving Clemmons
Pierce County Sheriff
Pierce County Sheriffs used two sets of hancuffs to restrain Maurice Clemmons after he went on an angry rampage in May, assaulting a neighbor and a police officer after breaking windows in numerous cars and buildings in his neighborhood.
Clemmons repeatedly slipped through the cracks
Did Maurice Clemmons, who assassinated four police officers last Sunday, live a crime-free life for the first five years he was in Washington? It's difficult to answer with certainty. But records from police, state corrections and federal law enforcement strongly suggest the answer is no.
Civil Disagreement: Time to Clamp Down on Guns?
Civil disagreements, with Lynne Varner and Bruce Ramsey of the Seattle Times editorial board, is a weekly feature of the Ed Cetera blog. Here Lynne and Bruce debate gun control laws in the wake of the shooting deaths of four Lakewood, Wa. police officers and a month earlier, a Seattle Police Officer.
Editorials & Opinions
Those who aided cop killer should suffer swift, severe legal consequences
Rules must change to avoid another case like Maurice Clemmons
Mike Huckabee: Why I commuted Maurice Clemmons' sentence
Families of slain officers ask for too much
A cop's wife grieves, worries and counts her blessings
Families of slain officers right to give up $182 million claim
Washington's dire budget might threaten programs to help felons be successful
Letters to the Editor: Clemmons case, manhunt reinforces racial profiling
There is justice to be served, grief to be processed, anger to be vented. Unfortunately, this incident is being used by some to justify their racist ideology ["Manhunt creates unease for black men," News, Dec. 1], rather than to question a criminal-justice system that obviously needs fixing.
Letters to the Editor
Lakewood officers' families and $182 million lawsuit
Maurice Clemmons gunned down, his family charged
Maurice Clemmons and five fallen police officers
Mike Huckabee's plea for pardoning Clemmons
Maurice Clemmons and mental illness
Families of slain Lakewood officers file lawsuit, then back down
Mental illness, violence affect us all
The aftermath of a murder
Mike Huckabee and the criminal-justice system
Memorial for officers attracts thousands worldwide
November - December 2009
Political death blow for Huckabee?
As governor of Arkansas, Mike Huckabee had a hand in pardoning or commuting many more prisoners than his three immediate predecessors combined. Maurice Clemmons, the suspect in Sunday's slayings of four Seattle-area police officers, was among them.
SPENCER TIREY / ASSOCIATED PRESS
Mike Huckabee, one of the Republican Party's most popular figures, is seen as Arkansas governor. Nine years ago he commuted the prison sentence of Maurice Clemmons.
December 1, 2009
2 men charged, several others suspected of aiding alleged cop killer
December 2, 2009
Alleged getaway driver in officers' slaying could face murder charges
Gregoire: no more Arkansas parolees
Loyal friends, family helped Clemmons flee police
Who leaked photo of Clemmons' body? Investigations launched
Alleged accomplice used an alias
December 3, 2009
Clemmons' half-brother charged with helping killer elude police
Clemmons' driver denies knowledge of plot to kill
December 4, 2009
Clemmons' sister taken into custody in courtroom
Bank accounts may be sign Clemmons planned getaway
Bail-bond agents gamble on unknown
Clemmons' sister arrested during court hearing
Repeat offenders would be denied bail under measure
Nicole Brodeur | Help is coming for aunt
December 7, 2009
Prosecutors want Clemmons' sister held in custody
December 8, 2009
Nicole Brodeur | No reward for turning in cop killer
December 9, 2009
Member of 'Clemmons Seven' charged with hiding driver
January - April 2010
Families of slain Wash. officers plead for changes
In emotional testimony Monday night, family members of four slain Lakewood police officers asked lawmakers in Olympia to make changes to a system they say failed their loved ones.
February 13, 2010
Clemmons' jail tapes reveal vow to kill
The man who fatally shot four Lakewood police officers described his deadly intentions over and over in conversations with his wife and others.
February 3, 2010
State House OKs bills in response to police killings
February 11, 2010
Wash. Senate approves changes tied to cop slayings
February 26, 2010
Forza Coffee to open by Space Needle at 8:14 a.m. Saturday to honor police officers killed at its Parkland store
March 4, 2010
State Senate OKs no bail constitutional amendment
March 10, 2010
State's refusal of Ark. felons violates national compact
State of Wash. continues to reject Ark. parolees
March 31, 2010
Gregoire signs compensation package in wake of fatal police shootings
April 5, 2010
Officer testifies about death of cop killer
April 6, 2010
Clemmons hit by 4 of 7 shots fired by Seattle officer
April 7, 2010
Jury: Officer believed he was in imminent danger when he killed Clemmons
April 8, 2010
Families of Lakewood officers filing $134M claim
SPD officer who shot Clemmons earns national honor
April 9, 2010
Officers' families drop their claims against Pierce County
April 13, 2010
Prosecutor: No criminal charges in Clemmons' death
April 24, 2010
How one prankster's ruse detoured massive manhunt
View PDFs from the Times print edition from the week of the Lakewood Police shootings.
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