Story originally posted at mynorthwest.com
Jury selection begins Tuesday in the trial for Seattle SuperSonics legend Shawn Kemp.
Kemp has been accused of assault for shooting at two people in the Tacoma Mall parking lot in 2023. Kemp has maintained that the two people he targeted broke into his car and stole several items.
He tracked them down through his stolen cellphone. When officers arrived, Kemp claimed he fired in self-defense.
The 2023 Tacoma Mall shooting
On March 8, 2023, just before 2 p.m., officers responded to reports of shots fired in the parking lot of the Tacoma Mall at the 4500 block of S. Steele St. No injuries were reported.
Officers located Kemp, who had allegedly fired off the shots on Tacoma Mall property, and detained him without incident. The people Kemp was shooting at fled the scene.
Attorneys for Kemp claimed he acted out of self-defense, opening fire while trying to retrieve his stolen cell phone and other items.
“He had a black pistol and fired five-to-10 shots at the subject in the four-runner,” a 911 call told TMZ.
Kemp was released from police custody, but was charged in April in connection with an incident at the Tacoma Mall where he allegedly fired a handgun.
According to court documents, Kemp was charged with one count of first-degree assault. Officers found a .357 caliber revolver after responding to reports of shots fired at the mall.
According to Kemp and his defense team, his car had been prowled earlier that morning while it was at the Showbox in Seattle. Kemp never called 911. Instead, he allegedly tracked his stolen items due to his stolen phone still having its location turned on, leading him to the Tacoma Mall.
He said when he approached the SUV with his stolen phone, the rear passenger window came down, and a single shot was fired at him.
According to court documents, Kemp said that’s when he retreated to his car and fired two shots back. However, police obtained a video that showed Kemp firing as soon as he got out of his car.
Mall employees witness the shooting
A JCPenney worker said that her car was hit with a bullet in the mall shooting.
The employee, Cheri Mahoe, said she remembers being escorted to the third floor of the store—along with coworkers and customers—because of an “incident” outside. When she left work an hour past her scheduled shift, police told her she couldn’t leave the lot yet.
The hole penetrated the top layer of the roof, but she said the bullet didn’t make it inside. She’s thankful she left work late.
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