Seattle, US - The suspect in the killing of four police officers that shocked Americans, was shot dead by a Seattle patrolman on Tuesday, authorities said. Maurice Clemmons, 37, been the subject of a massive police manhunt after he allegedly gunned down the officers as they were filling out paperwork in a coffee shop before the start of their shift on Sunday.
He managed to evade capture but was shot early Tuesday after confronting officers looking for him in a south Seattle neighbourhood, according to Ed Troyer, a spokesman for the Pierce County Sheriff's Office in Washington State said.
Clemmons, who had likely been shot in the leg during the coffee shop assault, was identified as a violent ex-convict who had a 95-year sentence commuted by Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee in 2000, when he was governor of Arkansas.
Clemmons has an "extensive violent criminal history from Arkansas, including aggravated robbery and theft," the sheriff's department said in a statement.
He also was recently charged in Pierce County in a case of the assault of a police officer and rape of a child, according to the statement. He was freed from jail only last week on a 150,000-dollar bail.
The suspect allegedly gunned down four police officers - three men and a woman - from the Lakeland police department in Washington, south of Seattle, at a coffee shop frequented by police officers.
Investigators believe two were shot without warning while seated. A third officer was shot standing up in reaction to the attack, and the fourth struggled with and wounded the gunman before also being shot.
All four officers were in uniform and died of apparent gunshot wounds despite wearing bulletproof vests.
"This was an execution, no doubt," Troyer said. "This was a targeted attack."
"I am going to guess he was not specifically targeting these cops. They just had the unfortunate accident of running into him at the wrong place and the wrong time."
Police launched a massive manhunt immediately after the attack and arrested several people they said had helped Clemmons commit the crime. They tracked him down to a house about 50 kilometres from the crime scene and used flash explosions, tear gas and a robot to attempt to get him out.
But when paramilitary SWAT teams stormed the home early Monday after an 11-hour standoff they did not find the suspect, police said.
