Maurice Clemmons
| Maurice Clemmons | |
|---|---|
Mugshot of Maurice Clemmons
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| Born |
February 6, 1972 North Little Rock, Arkansas, United States |
| Died | December 1, 2009 (aged 37) Seattle, Washington, U.S. |
| Cause of death | Gunshot wounds from police |
| Spouse(s) | Nicole Smith (2004–09; his death) |
| Killings | |
| Location(s) | Parkland, Washington |
| Target(s) | Four police officers |
| Killed | 4 |
| Weapons | |
Maurice Clemmons (February 6, 1972 – December 1, 2009) was an American who was responsible for the November 29, 2009, murder of four police officers in Parkland, Washington. After evading police for two days following the shooting, Clemmons was shot and killed by a police officer in Seattle.
Prior to his involvement in the shooting, Clemmons had at least five felony convictions in Arkansas and at least eight felony charges in Washington. His first incarceration began in 1989, at age 17. Facing sentences totaling 108 years in prison, the burglary sentences were reduced in 2000 by Governor of Arkansas Mike Huckabee to 47 years, which made him immediately eligible for parole. The Arkansas Parole Board unanimously moved to release him in 2000. Clemmons was subsequently arrested on other charges and was jailed several times. In the months prior to the Parkland shooting, he was in jail on charges of assaulting a police officer and raping a child. One week prior to the Parkland shooting, he was released from jail after posting a $150,000 bail bond.
At the time, Clemmons' murder of four police officers represented the largest number of law enforcement officers killed by a lone perpetrator in a single incident in U.S. history. It was surpassed in July 2016 when a mass shooting occurred in Dallas, Texas, resulting in the deaths of five police officers.
Maurice Clemmons's father made frames for automobile seats at a Chrysler factory, and his mother, Dorothy Mae Clemmons, worked in a nursing home. He had five siblings. Clemmons lived in Marianna, Arkansas in his early youth, and moved to Little Rock as a teen. He was arrested when he was a junior at Hall High School for carrying a .25-caliber pistol on school property. He claimed to be carrying the gun because he was "beaten by dopers", and said he had "something for them" if they attacked him again. Clemmons did not return to school, and finished his education at eleventh grade. In 1989, a 17-year-old Clemmons and two other accomplices robbed a woman at midnight in the parking lot of a Little Rock hotel bar. Clemmons pretended to have a gun in his pocket and threatened to shoot her if she did not give him her purse. When she responded, "Well, why don't you just shoot?", he punched her in the head and ran off with the purse, which contained $16 and a credit card.
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