Sam Amico
Former NBA star forward Shawn Kemp has been arrested on a felony drive-by shooting charge stemming from an incident in Tacoma, Washington, that was captured on video.
Videos by Rare
Kemp was booked into a jail in Washington state after being picked up by police, the Pierce County Sheriff’s Department said. A department spokesperson Darren Moss Jr. confirmed the suspect was in fact Kemp, a six-time NBA All-Star.
Police responded to a report of shots being fired between the occupants of two vehicles just before 2 p.m. local time in the Tacoma Mall parking lot. One of the drivers had fired “several rounds” at the other car, the Tacoma Police Department said in a statement.
Shawn Kemp Arrested
A video that is believed to be from the scene showed an individual dressed in a red jacket firing several rounds while on foot in a parking lot as another vehicle sped away. The individual in the red jacket is believed to be Kemp, who had been arrested twice in the early 2000s on drug charges.
He now owns several cannabis shops in the Seattle area. Seattle had an NBA team of which Kemp was a major player, alongside point guard Gary Payton, leading the old SuperSonics to an NBA Finals appearance in 1997. They lost to Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls by a 4-2 series count.
Kemp, 53, was taken into custody without incident, police said, adding that a firearm was found at the scene. He could face up to 10 years in prison and/or a $10,000 fine of convicted of the Class B felony.
Kemp spent 14 years overall in the NBA. Along with Seattle, he spent time with the Cleveland Cavaliers, Portland Trail Blazers and Orlando Magic.
