Ex-Con Engaged in Extra-judicial Execution of Four Police Officers, Police Say.

Some members of the public seem not to respect police officers any more than they respect their neighbors and family.

SEATTLE — A man suspected of fatally shooting four uniformed police officers was shot and killed early Tuesday by a Seattle police officer who chanced upon him during a routine patrol.

Pierce County Police Department

Maurice Clemmons

A memorial for the four slain officers was set up outside the Lakewood Police headquarters in Lakewood, Wash., on Monday.

The death of the suspect, Maurice Clemmons, 37, capped a huge manhunt that had fanned out through Seattle over the last two days involving scores of police officers. Officials said Mr. Clemmons had been carrying a gun that had belonged to one of the four officers, who were killed at a coffee shop near Tacoma on Sunday morning.

Although Mr. Clemmons is the only suspect in the shooting, authorities said on Tuesday that they had arrested four other people in the case: one who is suspected of acting as Mr. Clemmons’s getaway driver and three who they said had helped him elude the dragnet of officers, squad cars and helicopters.

This just goes to show that it's not only police officers who engage in extra-judicial pre-trial executions. It seems based on news stories that Maurice Clemmons engaged in an extra-judicial execution of police officers. They key difference is that police officers typically execute civilians with impunity, whereas civilians pay the price for killing police officers. Maurice Clemmons paid with his life.