Former NBA star Shawn Kemp was arrested and booked on Wednesday for his alleged connection in a drive-by shooting.
Shawn Kemp via NBA YouTube
Pierce County (Washington) authorities held the former Seattle SuperSonics star in jail in connection with a drive-by shooting. Tacoma police said the investigation surrounded an altercation between occupants of two vehicles near the Tacoma Mall.
Tacoma Police Department reported, “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. No injuries were reported.
They continued, “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 vehicle fled the area.”
“Officers located the suspect who had fired off the shots on Tacoma Mall property and detained him without incident. A firearm was recovered from the scene. The 53-year-old suspect was booked into jail for Drive-By Shooting,” the update concluded.
Tacoma Police Department Facebook
Kemp, 53, was booked for felony drive-by-shooting with more charges potentially pending, based on whatever else might surface during law enforcement’s discovery process. Thus far, the name of the victim has been withheld.
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Despite being a legend in the Seattle area and a local businessman, Shawn Kemp is also no stranger to brushes with the law.
In 2005, he was arrested in Washington state during an investigation of drug possession. Kemp and another man were found with a small amount of cocaine, about 60 grams of marijuana, and a semiautomatic pistol. Then in 2006, he was back in trouble again. This time, the basketball star was picked up by police for misdemeanor marijuana possession in Houston, Texas.
The Reign Man has also received a whole lot of public backlash over the years for having fathered seven children with six different women.
Shawn Kemp via NBA YouTube
Kemp was a six-time NBA All-Star who played 14 seasons in the league, including eight with the Seattle SuperSonics, who selected him 17th overall in the 1989 draft. He’s listed officially as being brought into the league by way of the University of Kentucky, although he never played there. Or, for that matter, a game of NCAA Division I basketball anywhere.
He entered the league at 19, with no college experience. This was a full five years before Kevin Garnett made the jump from Farragut Academy in Chicago to the NBA in 1994.
Known as a dunking machine, he was part of some great Seattle Sonics teams of the 1990s.
Along with fellow All-Stars Gary Payton and Detlef Schrempf, he helped lead the team to the 1996 NBA Finals, before falling to Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls in six games.