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Maurice Clemmons Killed by Police

by Hugh Askew | December 1, 2009 at 04:31 am

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Maurice Clemmons has been shot and killed by Seattle police. His death follows a massive two day manhunt by police.

Clemmons, suspected of executing four Lakewood, Wash., police officers, was killed after gunfire was exchanged between him and Seattle police.

Officials say he was surrounded after police raids at the homes of friends and family members where police suspected he mau have been hiding.

ABC News has confirmed that Maurice Clemmons was killed after police followed leads to a city address where he was hiding. Details of the early-morning confrontation weren't immediately available, but police have said gunfire was exchanged.

Seattle police had been watching several homes, with officers assigned to watch each location, authorities said today.

Clemmons, 37, had been the focus of an intense two-day manhunt that included a systematic raid of the homes of his friends and family, who were believed to have been helping him evade capture.

Police said Monday that Clemmons was believed to have been armed while on the run, possibly with several guns. Calling him "dangerous," they said, was an understatement.

Police said today that they believe Clemmons' friends and family had been providing authorities with false leads all along. It was those misleading tips, they said, that led police and SWAT members to surround a Seattle home for 11 hours Sunday night into Monday.

The standoff in Seattle's Leschi neighborhood ended Monday morning when a police robot and SWAT members confirmed that Clemmons had been able to flee the area undetected.