Legal news for Washington wrongful death attorneys. A $134 million lawsuit claims the Pierce County Jail released a man who planned to kill cops.
Washington wrongful death attorneys- A lawsuit against Pierce County, WA claims the jail should have kept the man in jail that later shot three police officers.
Tacoma, WA—The families of the three officers who were fatally shot at a coffee shop last year by a paroled ex-convict have filed a lawsuit against Washington’s Pierce County. The suit claims the jail didn’t pay attention to the warnings exhibited by the shooter, which should have kept him locked up, as reported by CNN.
The families of police officers Ronald Owens, Mark Renninger, and Gregory Richards filed the lawsuit, which seeks $134 million in damages. Maurice Clemmons, 37, was identified as the man who shot and killed the three Lakewood, Wash. police officers. The suit contends that Pierce County Jail should have known about Clemmon’s plan to kill police officers when he got released if the jail had been monitoring his phone calls while he was incarcerated. “Using the most basic law enforcement skills—the art of listening and reporting—Pierce County could have determined that Clemmons was engaging in criminal behavior while in jail… formulating a specific plan to execute as many police officers as possible upon his released,” according to the lawsuit.
Clemmons allegedly said, “The next time the police pull me over, I am going to shoot him dead in his face. The strategy is gonna go kill as many of those devils (police) as I can until I can’t kill no more. This is the strategy.” The Pierce County Jail apparently does not have guidelines for monitoring inmate phone calls, although the jail has a monitoring system that does record all phone calls. The lawsuit also asserts that the jail ignored other red flags that should have kept him locked up. Clemmons was shot and killed by a Seattle police officer after a manhunt was launched following the shootings.
Legal News Reporter: Nicole Howley-Legal news for Washington wrongful death lawyers.
