Former NBA player Shawn Kemp will soon be released following his arrest Wednesday night in Tacoma, Washington, related to a drive-by shooting earlier in the day. The gun was recovered and no injuries were reported following the incident.
Records from Pierce County Jail suggest that Kemp, 53, was booked around 6:00 p.m. Wednesday and spent the night there. The alleged drive-by shooting occurred in the parking lot of the Tacoma Mall and involved two cars, one of which fled. Kemp reportedly stayed at the scene after the incident and pointed at the vehicle as it drove away. A police investigation is ongoing.
“At 1:58 p.m. officers responded to reports of shots fired in the parking lot of the Tacoma Mall at the 4500 block of S. Steele St.,” the police said in a statement. “No injuries were reported. Responding officers determined an altercation had occurred between two parties in vehicles. One of the drivers fired off several rounds at the occupants of the other vehicle. The victim’s vehicle fled the area. Officers located the suspect who had fired off the shots on Tacoma Mall property and detained him without incident.”
After Kemp was confirmed as the suspect in the shooting, new details began to emerge about the circumstances of the incident. Sources close to Kemp claimed that he was firing back at an assailant in self-defense. Having lost his phone several days earlier, he claimed that he had tracked it to a car at the Tacoma Mall. The driver in the car reportedly began shooting at him and he fired back before the other individual left the scene.
The Pierce County Prosecuting Attorney’s office announced Thursday that it would not be filing charges against Kemp, pending the completion of the investigation.
“The Prosecuting Attorney’s Office is not filing charges against Mr. Kemp today. This case’s status will be ‘No Charges Filed’ pending further investigation by Tacoma Police, and Mr. Kemp will be released,” the office said, according to FOX 13.
Kemp played in the NBA for 14 seasons and spent most of his career playing for the Seattle SuperSonics from 1989 to 1997. He now owns a number of businesses in Washington, including two cannabis dispensaries.
