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Officer who shot Clemmons is hailed as a 'hero'
SEATTLEPI.com - SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER ^ | Last updated Tuesday, December 1, 2009, 6:37 p.m. PT | By VANESSA HO and CASEY MCNERTHNEY

Posted on 12/02/2009 1:43:53 AM PST by Cindy

SNIPPET: "Seattle police officer Benjamin L. Kelly is being hailed as a hero for his actions early Tuesday morning, in which he single-handedly shot and killed Maurice Clemmons, the man wanted in Sunday's killings of four Pierce County officers.

After an intense, two-day manhunt for Clemmons, Kelly had stopped to check out a stolen car parked on the side of a road in Rainier Valley. Clemmons was outside the car. Kelly recognized him from police bulletins and ordered him to put up his hands, police said. When he refused, Kelly shot Clemmons."

SNIPPET: "The pistol found on Clemmons matched the serial number of a gun belonging to one of the officers slain in Pierce County. They were killed while working on their laptops in a Lakewood coffee shop.

On Tuesday, some Seattle police officers said they believed that the South Seattle incident - in which Clemmons had the hood up and motor running of a stolen car - may have been an attempted ambush of police officers by Clemmons."

(Excerpt) Read more at seattlepi.com ...


TOPICS: News/Current Events; US: Washington
KEYWORDS: banglist; clemmons; kelly; seattlepd
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To: All

Have Reverend Jackson and Reverend Sharpton arrived at the scene yet ?


21 posted on 12/02/2009 4:12:34 AM PST by Einherjar (PEACE THROUGH SUPERIOR FIREPOWER)
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To: Cindy

This guy asked for it and he got it, I have no problem leaving it at that.


22 posted on 12/02/2009 4:20:02 AM PST by Venturer
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To: Cindy
Dad worked the south Bronx...he lucked out in as much as he worked the 'Four-one', before the Bronx burned down...but it was still bad enough....

He arrested people mostly for small offenses and preferred to work in 'Traffic'....as a Marine, he saw enough action in the South Pacific during the war....one time he had to go to court because he had given a traffic ticket to an individual who blew a light...back in those days they had no pictures on drivers licenses...the guy was calm and took his ticket in good spirits...later on, they found the real owner of the car dead of a gunshot wound in the trunk of the same car....Dad had given a ticket to the perp, who gave dad the victims license as his, and who killed the cars owner. and while dad was filling it out this guy had a loaded gun in his belt.....I dont remember how they caught the guy, but Dad had to identify him as the driver of the car he gave the ticket to.....the guy was convicted on dad's (along with other) testimony but dad could have been victim #2 that day.

23 posted on 12/02/2009 4:46:24 AM PST by Vaquero ("an armed society is a polite society" Robert A. Heinlein))
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To: ClearCase_guy

My opinion is that as long as that person is free, someones life is in jeopardy, perhaps even Yours.

The cop had a righteous shoot. The shootee had demonstrated the willingness to kill others without remorse, his life is forfeit if he decides not to cooperate with being arrested.

Don’t run, you’ll only die tired.


24 posted on 12/02/2009 5:30:29 AM PST by RoadGumby (Ask me about Ducky)
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To: RoadGumby

In my youth long ago it was generally expected that if you ran from a cop you would get shot at.One very seldom heard of anyone running from a cop. I remember a scandal when a cop said he shot a perp who ran but the hole was in the front.


25 posted on 12/02/2009 6:47:25 AM PST by arthurus ("If you don't believe in shooting abortionists, don't shoot an abortionist." -Ann C.)
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To: arthurus
One very seldom heard of anyone running from a cop.

I'm probably as old as you, but we all sure ran from the cops. On foot and in cars.

26 posted on 12/02/2009 9:10:28 AM PST by ansel12 (Scozzafava/Romney 2012)
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To: ansel12
I'm probably as old as you, but we all sure ran from the cops. On foot and in cars.

Ooops... yes we did. Forgot about those days.

27 posted on 12/02/2009 9:23:17 AM PST by Fido969 ("The hardest thing in the world to understand is income tax." - Albert Einstein)
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To: Cindy
There is no “class system.”

Sorry, it is YOU who is mistaken.

Don't get me wrong, what this officer did what just and right. There is one less vermin on the streets today.

Unfortunately, liberals have created a defacto class system.

Why is it that many large cities oppose capital punishment except when a police officer is killed?

In some states, the murder of a police officer automatically makes the perpetrator eligible for capital punishment on conviction. Why doesn't that apply to anyone being murdered if there is no class system?

28 posted on 12/02/2009 4:02:40 PM PST by Erik Latranyi (Too many conservatives urge retreat when the war of politics doesn't go their way.)
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To: copwife
What a disgusting thing to say!!! 4 parents,children,brothers,sisters were killed in cold blood. The man who shot their killer is a hero!!!I don’t think that their occupation will effect the treatment of this shooting.

No? Why does shooting a police officer make a perpetrator automatically eligible for the death penalty in some states when the same does not apply to average citizens?

I am not criticizing what the officer did.

29 posted on 12/02/2009 4:05:18 PM PST by Erik Latranyi (Too many conservatives urge retreat when the war of politics doesn't go their way.)
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To: Cindy
Clemmons had said that after he killed those cops, he planned to kill children and people at an intersection.

While wounded, he said he was not done yet.

30 posted on 12/02/2009 8:13:15 PM PST by MarMema (chains we can believe in)
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To: copwife

You’re correct.

Ditto and BUMP to your post, copwife.


31 posted on 12/02/2009 8:48:44 PM PST by Cindy
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To: MarMema

Pure evil.

Thanks for the update MarMena.


32 posted on 12/02/2009 8:49:21 PM PST by Cindy
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To: Joe Boucher
Conversely, there are cops who have had to use lethal force their very first day on the job. You just never know.

There will be many more officers who join the force directly from the ranks of the military. Since we've been on a war footing since September 11th 2001 and the numbers of troops who've now been in one or both theatres of battle is huge, it will be likely that a great number of new police officers will have already faced their trial by fire and emerged unscathed. Therefore they will be less likely to "agonize" or suffer undue "trauma" over having to use deadly force against the bottom feeders that lurk on the fringes of all decent societies. That's a good thing.

33 posted on 12/03/2009 8:25:15 AM PST by ExSoldier (Democracy is 2 wolves and a lamb voting on dinner. Liberty is a well armed lamb contesting the vote.)
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To: Cindy

Excellent!
No way coulda/shoulda/woulda the cops have taken this animal alive.


34 posted on 12/03/2009 8:29:31 AM PST by Lancey Howard
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To: Erik Latranyi
Erik, answer this:

Did the officer KNOW the guy running around his car was Clemmons?

35 posted on 12/03/2009 8:30:03 AM PST by thefactor (yes, as a matter of fact, i DID only read the excerpt)
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To: thefactor

Yes...the article said that he recognized Clemmons and ordered him to stop and show his hands. Clemmons did neither and began to run around the car and going for his (stolen) weapon. That’s when Kelly opened fire.


36 posted on 12/03/2009 8:40:05 AM PST by Pharmboy (The Stone Age did not end because they ran out of stones...)
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To: Pharmboy
I'm surprised Clemmons didn't have his gun in his hand as he approached. That's the thing that jumped out at me. Did he not think he was going to be recognized? Was he out of ammo?

The article is a little sketchy on all the details. Did the officer inspect the car or simply run the plate? How far was Clemmons from the cop car when the officer got out?

I guess the only reason I ask is because some people are speculating about the cop firing without seeing a gun. But I think given the totality of the circumstances this proves to be a good shoot. Even if he hadn't recognized Clemmons.

37 posted on 12/03/2009 11:18:00 AM PST by thefactor (yes, as a matter of fact, i DID only read the excerpt)
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To: thefactor
I'm surprised Clemmons didn't have his gun in his hand as he approached.

I had the exact same thought. One would expect that he would have been holding the piece behind him, but in his hand nonetheless.

38 posted on 12/03/2009 11:29:44 AM PST by Pharmboy (The Stone Age did not end because they ran out of stones...)
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To: Pharmboy
I think he might have been out of ammo or maybe thought he could pretend he was simply having car trouble and overpower the cop and get another gun/more ammo.

If the cop hadn't figured out the car was stolen, he may not have been raised up enough and not been on the defensive. That may have saved his life.

Thank God whoever's car that was reported it stolen so quickly.

39 posted on 12/03/2009 11:36:59 AM PST by thefactor (yes, as a matter of fact, i DID only read the excerpt)
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To: ex 98C MI Dude; ArmstedFragg

Here’s the scanner record from when the cop found the car until after the scum was shot. Not sure if there are any edits in the tape (other calls, etc.) so not sure if the “time” is correct. Seems that a LOT of cops were already in the area.

Thanks to ArmstedFragg for the links that he posted the morning after the takedown.

http://tinyurl.com/yfxdczy

http://tinyurl.com/yc642ob


40 posted on 12/03/2009 11:49:22 AM PST by 21twelve (Drive Reality out with a pitchfork if you want , it always comes back.)
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