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Suspect sought in US police shootings

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-11-30 17:27

A man with an extensive criminal past is being sought following a deadly ambush on four police officers who were gunned down inside a coffee shop in Washington state.

Pierce County sheriff's spokesman Ed Troyer told reporters that Maurice Clemmons, 37, was believed to have been in the area around the time of the shooting, but declined to say what evidence might link him to the shooting.

Clemmons has an extensive violent criminal history including aggravated robbery and theft, the sheriff's office said. He also recently was arrested and charged in Washington state for assaulting a police officer, and second-degree rape of a child. Using a bail bondsman, he posted US $150,000 and was released from jail last week.

On Friday a man entered the coffee shop and gunned down Sgt. Mark Renninger, 39; and Officers Ronald Owens, 37; Tina Griswold, 40; and Greg Richards 42. However investigator are unable to find any reason for the shooting. "We have no motive at all," Troyer said. "I don't think when we find out what it is, it will be anything that makes any sense or be worth it."

On Sunday night, a motorcade of dozens of police cars and motorcycles with lights flashing escorted the bodies of the four officers to the medical examiner's office. Troyer said investigators believe two of the officers were killed while sitting in the shop, and the third was shot dead after standing up. The fourth apparently "gave up a good fight."

"We believe there was a struggle, a commotion, a fight ... that he fought the guy all the way out the door," Troyer said. "We hope that he hit him." Investigators were asking area medical providers to report any gunshot wounds.

Dismissing any suggestion that it was a robbery gone bad, Troyer said, "This was more of an execution. A walk in with the specific mindset to shoot police officers." The officers were catching up on paperwork at the beginning of their shifts when they were attacked at 8:15 a.m. There were marked patrol cars outside and they were all in uniform.

Two employees and a few other customers were in the shop at the time of the attack though none were injured. All were interviewed by the Pierce County sheriff's investigators.

Authorities say there was no indication of any connection with the Halloween night shooting of a Seattle police officer recently. They say the man charged with that shooting also firebombed four police vehicles in October as part of a "one-man war" against law enforcement. Christopher Monfort, 41, was arrested after being wounded in a firefight with police days after the Seattle shooting. He remains hospitalized in stable condition, the hospital said Sunday. "We won't know if it's a copycat effect or what it was until we get the case solved," Troyer said.

The coffee shop, part of a popular local chain, is on a side street near McChord Air Force Base in Tacoma, about 56 km south of Seattle. Investigators are continuing to check surveillance video from multiple sources in an attempt to identify a possible getaway car, Troyer said. "We lost people we care about. We're working to find out who did this and deal with him," Pierce County Sheriff Paul Pastor told reporters at the scene.