Police: We're going after those helping Clemmons
Renton, Wash. -- The search for the suspect in the Lakewood police shooting led police to a home in Renton on Monday night.
A SWAT team surrounded the home in the 13000 block of Renton Avenue South around 6 p.m. Monday, and a police source confirmed the incident is connected to the Lakewood murders.
Investigators entered the house around 7:30 p.m. Maurice Clemmons was not found inside, but detectives said they were not surprised.
"We didn't expect him to be here," said Pierce County Det. Ed Troyer. "We are serving multiple locations to collect evidence against him and against those helping him evade us."
Troyer said investigators will be serving multiple search warrants throughout the night, multiple locations in multiple cities in an attempt to eliminate anyone aiding Clemmons, "from possible medical aid to giving him money, to hiding him out, to transporting him around."
"Our ultimate goal is to get him into custody, but a part of that plan going to be to make everybody's life miserable that's helping him. And if they want to go down one by one, that's fine with us," Troyer said. "And our goal by doing this is to take everybody out of the equation that's helping him. That way, he'll have nobody left, and have to fend for himself."
Troyer also said some of those who have helped Clemmons have tried to mislead police.
"Right now, there's not a high level of trust in anything that the family says and his friends state," Troyer said. "We're aware of that now -- that they're not cooperating with us.That's why you're going to see multiple tactical operations."
No one has been arrested; however, Clemmons' sister has been taken into custody for questioning.
"We believe the sister drove him up to Seattle, and tried to help him with his wounds, knowing what he'd done," Troyer said. "And she, at this point, we're working with."
Depending on the direction of the investigation, Troyer said the woman could face charges at a later date.
Police on Sunday night searched the home of Clemmons' aunt, Chrisceda Clemmons. A tipster told police somebody had dropped Clemmons off at the woman's home in Seattle's Leschi neighborhood.
Chrisceda Clemmons said she doesn't have a clue why her nephew, Maurice Clemmons, showed up on her doorstep late Sunday night.
But investigators now believe he never went inside. They say they have evidence he walked around the porch then left while nobody was home.
And when Chrisceda Clemmons got home, police swarmed the neighborhood.
Every window of her home was shattered. All night, officers pumped flash-bang grenades and tear gas canisters inside, believing the suspect could be hiding inside.
At dawn, a SWAT team stormed the house. With guns drawn, officers combed the area around the home several times throughout the day.
Chrisceda Clemmons, who was questioned about her nephew and the murder of the Lakewood police officers for 10 hours, says she hasn't talked with her nephew for some time.
A SWAT team surrounded the home in the 13000 block of Renton Avenue South around 6 p.m. Monday, and a police source confirmed the incident is connected to the Lakewood murders.
Investigators entered the house around 7:30 p.m. Maurice Clemmons was not found inside, but detectives said they were not surprised.
"We didn't expect him to be here," said Pierce County Det. Ed Troyer. "We are serving multiple locations to collect evidence against him and against those helping him evade us."
Troyer said investigators will be serving multiple search warrants throughout the night, multiple locations in multiple cities in an attempt to eliminate anyone aiding Clemmons, "from possible medical aid to giving him money, to hiding him out, to transporting him around."
"Our ultimate goal is to get him into custody, but a part of that plan going to be to make everybody's life miserable that's helping him. And if they want to go down one by one, that's fine with us," Troyer said. "And our goal by doing this is to take everybody out of the equation that's helping him. That way, he'll have nobody left, and have to fend for himself."
Troyer also said some of those who have helped Clemmons have tried to mislead police.
"Right now, there's not a high level of trust in anything that the family says and his friends state," Troyer said. "We're aware of that now -- that they're not cooperating with us.That's why you're going to see multiple tactical operations."
No one has been arrested; however, Clemmons' sister has been taken into custody for questioning.
"We believe the sister drove him up to Seattle, and tried to help him with his wounds, knowing what he'd done," Troyer said. "And she, at this point, we're working with."
Depending on the direction of the investigation, Troyer said the woman could face charges at a later date.
Police on Sunday night searched the home of Clemmons' aunt, Chrisceda Clemmons. A tipster told police somebody had dropped Clemmons off at the woman's home in Seattle's Leschi neighborhood.
Chrisceda Clemmons said she doesn't have a clue why her nephew, Maurice Clemmons, showed up on her doorstep late Sunday night.
But investigators now believe he never went inside. They say they have evidence he walked around the porch then left while nobody was home.
And when Chrisceda Clemmons got home, police swarmed the neighborhood.
Every window of her home was shattered. All night, officers pumped flash-bang grenades and tear gas canisters inside, believing the suspect could be hiding inside.
At dawn, a SWAT team stormed the house. With guns drawn, officers combed the area around the home several times throughout the day.
Chrisceda Clemmons, who was questioned about her nephew and the murder of the Lakewood police officers for 10 hours, says she hasn't talked with her nephew for some time.