Ex-Sonics star Shawn Kemp charged with assault in Tacoma Mall shooting

Video-surveillance footage from a March shooting in the Tacoma Mall parking lot contradicts ex-Sonics star Shawn Kemp’s assertion he returned fire in self-defense as he tried to recover items stolen in an earlier car prowl, according to Pierce County prosecutors.

Kemp, 53, was charged Friday with first-degree assault, accused of shooting three rounds from a .357 revolver into a parked SUV after tracking a stolen cellphone to the vehicle, charging papers say. Prosecutors also charged a firearm enhancement which, if proven, would add a mandatory five years to any potential prison sentence.

The six-time All Star was arrested at the scene March 8 but was released from jail the next day while Tacoma police investigated the shooting. In consultation with Kemp’s defense attorneys, prosecutors decided to issue a summons for Kemp to appear in Pierce County Superior Court for arraignment May 4, said Adam Faber, a spokesperson for the Prosecuting Attorney’s Office.

Kemp will be entering a not guilty plea at his arraignment, criminal defense attorneys Tim Leary and Aaron Kiviat said in a statement.

“He has been fully cooperative with the police and the prosecutor’s office throughout this process,” Leary and Kiviat said of Kemp. “He is confident that once the jury hears from the witnesses and sees the evidence at trial, they will conclude that he was justified in defending himself that afternoon.”

Tacoma police responded to a 911 call about a shooting in the mall parking lot near the JC Penney and Firestone stores just before 2 p.m. A witness directed an officer to a .357 revolver that had been thrown in the bushes and showed him a video of the shooting, which showed a tall man in a red puffy vest firing rounds, charging papers say. Other officers detained the man nearby, who was the same person seen in the video, according to the charges. The man was later identified as Kemp.

Video-surveillance footage from the mall showed a Toyota 4Runner arrive and park in the lot at 1:50 p.m., followed six minutes later by a Porsche, which parked four stalls away, the charges say.

Kemp, who was driving the Porsche, got out of the car, placed a large backpack on the roof and retrieved a smaller bag from the pack, say the charges. Over the next four minutes, Kemp fired at the 4Runner at least four times and one of the bullets went into the roof of another parked car, according to the charges.

In the footage, it appeared Kemp got into a verbal argument with the driver of the 4Runner, who was later seen ducking one of the gunshots before he dislodged the driver’s door from where it had become stuck against another car and drove away, the charges say.

An arriving Tacoma police vehicle drove past Kemp, who drove out of his parking spot and out of the camera’s frame at 2:01 p.m., according to the charges.

Police learned during the investigation that Kemp was at a Seattle music venue when his car was prowled early March 8 and a cellphone was stolen, the charges say. Kemp first tracked the stolen phone to Fife, where he asked the occupants of a silver SUV if they had the items that had been stolen from him. The SUV drove off.

Kemp later tracked the phone to the Tacoma Mall.

Statements Kemp made to police during an interview were not corroborated by the video evidence, according to the charges.

“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. However, the video clearly showed Kemp getting the revolver out of the backpack as soon as he gets out of his Porsche,” a detective wrote in charging papers.

Additionally, police say Kemp admitted he threw his revolver into the bushes but couldn’t say why, according to the charges.

Five .357 rounds were found in a bag in Kemp’s pocket, one was found on the ground and two were found in the Porsche’s console, the charges say. Police also found an unloaded AR-15 pistol in Kemp’s trunk and a text message on his phone that showed his intent to confront and shoot the person who had allegedly stolen from him, say the charges, which note Kemp “never called 911” before or after the shooting.

Four days after the shooting, the 4Runner, which turned out to be stolen, was located in Federal Way, the charges say. Footage from the mall shooting and from a Federal Way officer’s body camera confirmed the vehicle’s driver was the same person, the charges say. Though the man has been identified, his whereabouts are unknown, according to the charges.

Tacoma police found the 4Runner had three bullet holes, including one through the front passenger door, say the charges. It does not appear that anyone was hit.