Former NBA star Shawn Kemp is charged with first-degree assault in Washington state, as Pierce County prosecutors say he was involved in a Tacoma shopping mall shooting last month.
Kemp, 53, plans to plead not guilty, according to a statement from his defense attorneys, Tim Leary and Aaron Kivat. He is scheduled to be charged on May 4.
Kemp’s attorneys said in a statement, “He has been fully cooperating with the police and the district attorney’s office throughout this process.” “He is confident that once the jury has heard of the witnesses and seen the evidence at trial, they will conclude that he was justified in defending himself that afternoon.”
On March 8, Tacoma police officers arrested Kemp after shooting in a Tacoma Mall parking lot around 2 p.m. He was released from jail a day later, after the Pierce County District Attorney’s office decided not to charge him immediately, Awaiting investigation. Police said at the time that no one was hurt in the shooting.
On Friday, Pierce County prosecutors charged Kemp with first-degree assault with the use of firearms. In a shipping document issued by the district attorney’s office, police said Kemp was seen on surveillance video footage exiting his car, removing an object from inside a backpack and heading towards another vehicle in the area. Police said they found a gunshot in which he was standing next to a car with a “suspected bullet hole in the roof.”
According to police, video footage showed Kemp aiming a gun at an occupied car. Police guessed Kemp shot the driver of the car, who they said can be seen rambling in the video. Police said they found a gun in the parking lot and that Kemp told them he had thrown a gun into the bush.
Neither Leary nor Kivat responded to specific questions about the police version of events.
Another one of Kemp’s lawyers, W.J. Scott Putman, He said last month In a statement to ESPN and The Associated Press that Kemp only returned fire after he was shot. Kemp’s car was broken into and several of his items stolen, Boatman said, prompting him to trace his iPhone to the parking lot where the accident occurred.
Putman said people in the car fired at Kemp after he tackled them and then Kemp returned fire. Putman called Kemp’s actions “reasonable and legally justified”.
On a charging document for Kemp, police said they were able to identify the driver of the other car, but they did not know where that person was.
Kemp played in the NBA from 1989 to 2003 and was a six-time All-Star. He started his professional career with the Seattle SuperSonics and also played for the Cleveland Cavaliers, Portland Trail Blazers and Orlando Magic. Since retiring, he has opened two cannabis stores that bear his name in Seattle, where recreational marijuana use has been legal since 2012.