WA Prosecutors Reverse, Charge Shawn Kemp in Gun Confrontation

Shawn Kemp Charged with 1st-Degree Assault in Gun Confrontation

The Washington Prosecutors reversed their original statement after looking at all the evidence and have charged NBA legend, Shawn Kemp.

Shawn Kemp, Seattle SuperSonics NBA Legend

If you do not know who Shawn Kemp is, he played in the NBA for the Seattle SuperSonics, Cleveland Cavaliers, Portland Trail Blazers, and Orlando Magic.

He is known to be one of the best players for the popular Seattle SuperSonics, helping get the team far into the NBA playoffs in 1997.

Police Report 53-Year-Old-Man Arrested for Shooting

back on March 9th, the Tacoma Police Department released a Facebook post saying that "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."

They say that they found an altercation had happened between two cars and that one man fired several rounds at the other car as they drove away.

The post says that police found the man on the Tacoma Mall property and arrested him.

They say that no one was injured, that the firearm was recovered at the scene, and identified the man arrested as a 53-year-old male. That male has since been identified as Shawn Kemp, a Seattle sports star.

Video Released of Shooting Incident

A video that appears to show the moments of the altercation was released by Fox 13 Seattle on Twitter. You can watch the entire video below. The video shows Shawn Kemp in a red vest near the back of his Porche with the back trunk open.

Shawn Kemp is standing next to another black SUV with its door open, and then you can hear a loud pop on the video. Then you see the man in red (Shawn Kemp) moving his arms around like he was agitated and the SUV door shuts and starts to drive away.

While his arms were in the air, you can see what looks like a gun being held in one hand, as the man in the red vest points the gun at the SUV like he is telling them to get out of there.

One More Shot Fired on the Video

As the man (identified as Shawn Kemp) in the red vest points at the leaving SUV with his empty hand, the gun is pointed to the ground and you hear one last loud pop that sounds like another shot before the video clip ends.

You also hear what sounds like police sirens in the background at the end of the clip as the man in the red vest points toward the SUV when they drive away.

Shawn Kemp Arrested by Police on Video

The next clip on the video shows Shawn Kemp being arrested by Tacoma Police without incident. The same Porche in the shooting video was on the side of the road, and the video zooms in to clearly show the man in the red vest arrested with handcuffs on. You can watch the entire video below.

NBA Legend Shawn Kemp Charged with 1st-Degree Assault

The county records show that Shawn Travis Kemp was booked into a Pierce County jail just before 6 p.m. Pacific (9 p.m. Eastern) on a felony drive-by shooting charge. After Shawn was released, the Prosecutors said there would be no charges, however after looking at all the evidence they reversed their decision according to probable cause documents released by the court.

"I'm About to Shoot This (Expletive)" - Shawn Kemp

The Tacoma Police and Prosecutors have released details in the case showing Shawn Kemp texted 13 minutes before the encounter saying "I’m about to shoot this (expletive)." After studying multiple witness videos, detectives think Shawn Kemp fired the first shot into the ground according to court documents. The probable cause statement released by police does not mention Shawn Kemp being shot at first.

Shawn Kemp is due to be arraigned on May 4, 2023. More details or confirmation about this case will be posted here when released. A statement from Kemp's lawyers said "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." Watch the full shooting and arrest video below for yourself.