Ex-Sonics star Shawn Kemp reportedly arrested in alleged drive-by shooting for parking lot incident at Tacoma mall
Shawn Kemp #ShawnKemp
Former Seattle SuperSonics star Shawn Kemp was arrested on Wednesday in Tacoma, Washington on a drive-by shooting charge, according to multiple reports.
Tacoma Police announced Wednesday afternoon that a 53-year-old man was booked for an alleged drive-by shooting at 1:58 local time. Pierce County jail records show that Shawn Travis Kemp was booked on a drive-by shooting charge Wednesday afternoon. The middle name and age match those of the former NBA star.
Per Tacoma Police, an altercation between the occupants of two cars led to shots being fired in a parking lot near the Tacoma Mall. One car fled, and no injuries were reported, according to police. A gun was recovered on the scene.
Seattle’s KIRO 7 published video of the alleged incident Wednesday evening. The video shows a man waving an object in his left hand while engaged in a verbal confrontation with another man in a mall parking lot. The man then gets into his Porsche and drives away from the scene. KIRO 7 reports that the Porsche is registered to Kemp and that the Pierce County Sheriff’s Department confirmed that he was arrested in connection with the shooting.
Seattle’s Fox 13 cites multiple sources confirming that the suspect in the drive-by shooting is Kemp.
Kemp played 14 seasons in the NBA from 1989-2003 after being selected 17th overall in the 1989 draft. He spent his first eight seasons with the SuperSonics, where he made five of his six NBA All-Star teams as one of the league’s most physical and athletic players. He and Gary Payton led the SuperSonics to the 1996 NBA Finals against Michael Jordan’s Chicago Bulls. He played six more seasons with the Cleveland Cavaliers, Portland Trail Blazers and Orlando Magic.
Kemp has remained engaged in the Seattle community since his retirement and has campaigned to bring the NBA back to the city. He owned the now-shuttered sports bar Oskar’s Kitchen in Seattle’s Queen Anne neighborhood and opened up a cannabis dispensary in Seattle in 2020.