Clemmons has a long criminal history, including a long prison sentence commuted by former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee nearly a decade ago, and a recent arrest for allegedly assaulting a police officer in Washington.
A heavily armed SWAT teamstormed a Seattle home Monday where they thought they had cornered thesuspect in the slaying of four police officers at a coffee shop, onlyto find out that he was not in the house and still on the loose.
Thediscovery added new urgency to the manhunt for Maurice Clemmons aspolice canvassed the neighborhood with search dogs and hundreds ofofficers were deployed around Seattle for any sign of the suspect. Authorities put up a $125,000 reward for information leading to his arrest.
Policehad been positioned overnight at a Seattle home where they thoughtClemmons was holed up and spent hours trying to communicate with him,using loudspeakers, explosions and even a robot sent into the house.But when the SWAT team went inside, he was nowhere to be found.
Pierce County sheriff’sspokesman Ed Troyer said the location of Clemmons was not known, andit’s possible he still could be in the neighborhood. Troyer also saidpeople who know Clemmons told investigators he had been shot in thetorso in his bloody struggle with the officers.
“If he didn’t get a ride out of there, he could still be in the area,” Troyer said.