Associated Press
SEATTLE — Two sheriff’s deputies in Washington state encountered a convicted felon released on bond less than eight hours before he slaughtered four police officers, but a warrant check came up empty, leaving the man free to commit the slayings.
Those details were reported by The Seattle Times on Monday, after more than 2,000 pages of law-enforcement documents were released pursuant to an order from the state Supreme Court. The News Tribune of Tacoma, The Associated Press and three Seattle television stations joined in suing for their release.
The documents show that after midnight on Nov. 29, 2009, two Pierce County deputies came across Maurice Clemmons while on a routine patrol and ran a warrants check. None turned up, even though Clemmons had failed to report to his community corrections officer and cut off a bail bonds company’s monitoring bracelet.