Ex-Sonics star Shawn Kemp has been charged in Tacoma Mall shooting

Former Seattle Supersonics star Shawn Kemp was charged Friday with one count of first-degree assault by the Pierce County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office for a March 8 altercation at the Tacoma Mall which devolved into gunfire.

The NBA legend was arrested by police but later released pending further investigation. He is not in custody.

Kemp will be arraigned on May 4, according the the prosecutor’s office.

Charging papers

According to charging papers filed Friday, police responded to a call of shots fired in the mall’s parking lot near JC Penney and a Firestone store.

The charging papers offer a timeline of what happened next.

A witness offered a video to a police officer and pointed out where the shooter, later determined to be Kemp, had discarded a .357-caliber revolver in bushes. The officer recovered the weapon.

The video showed Kemp arriving in a Porsche and parking a few stalls away from a Toyota 4Runner.

Surveillance videos from numerous sources showed Kemp walking toward the 4Runner while carrying a backpack.

“Kemp was very animated,” charging papers state. The court records don’t state if Kemp or occupants of the other vehicle then fired a round. But a bullet hole was found in the roof of a third, uninvolved vehicle.

The driver of the 4Runner then moved the vehicle with his driver side door open, court records show. The door became lodged against an adjacent car. Kemp then moved closer and fired a round into the hood of the 4Runner. Smoke soon began to rise from the front of that vehicle.

Kemp then moved back, into and around his vehicle while the driver of the other vehicle attempted to dislodge his stuck door, the records show.

At one point, Kemp opened the trunk of his Porsche but did not appear to remove anything. Later, during the execution of a search warrant, an unloaded AR-style pistol was found in the trunk, court records show.

A few seconds later, Kemp walked back toward the 4Runner and appeared to engage in an argument with the driver.

Both Kemp and the other driver eventually drove away.

Interview

Kemp was interviewed that day at Tacoma police headquarters by a detective.

Kemp said that while at the Showbox venue in Seattle earlier that day, his vehicle was prowled and a cell phone was taken.

Kemp was able to track the stolen cell phone to a location in Fife.

“The defendant noted that a silver SUV was at the Fife location, and that he asked the occupants if they had items that had been stolen from him,” court records show. “The SUV left the area with the defendant not being able to locate it.”

Kemp then tracked the phone to the Tacoma Mall parking lot.

“Kemp was adamant in his interview that he had retreated to his vehicle after he was shot at, and then shot back at the 4Runner,” the detective said. “However, the video clearly showed Kemp getting the revolver out of the backpack as soon as he gets out of his Porsche.”

While Kemp was demanding the driver give his property back, he said he noticed the rear passenger window come down and a single shot was fired at him.

Kemp said he fired one or two shots at the vehicle which was attempting to flee.

“For a reason that he could not articulate (Kemp) admitted to throwing the firearm he used, into a nearby bush. Before leaving the area (Kemp) thought he may be identified by license plate and contacted officers,” the charging papers state.

Investigation

Detectives later viewed the cell phone Kemp used to track the missing phone. On it were exchanges with another person.

“Kemp then followed those text messages with ‘I’m about to shoot this mf’ approximately 13 minutes before he arrived at the Tacoma Mall,” the documents state. “The text messages showed the intent Kemp had when he went to the location to confront the suspect. It should be noted, Kemp never called 911 prior/after the incident.”

The stolen 4Runner was found on March 12. A forensic study by a police detective of the vehicle found that it had been hit three times by bullets.

“One was through the front license plate mount,” the charging papers state. “A second was through the front quarter panel and the ‘trajectory rod showed the initial penetration to be in the direction of the steering wheel of the vehicle. . . .’ A third was through the front passenger side door and the trajectory rod ‘showed the direction of the bullet to be at the front passenger seat, traveling slightly downward and front to back in the vehicle’.”