Former NBA All-Star Shawn Kemp to plead not-guilty on charges of first-degree assault

Retired NBA All-Star Shawn Kemp has been charged with first-degree assault by police after an incident in March in which he allegedly fired a gun in a shopping center parking lot in Tacoma, Washington.

Kemp’s lawyer, Scott Boatman, says Kemp will plead not guilty after his client claims he acted in self-defense when trying to recover allegedly stolen property.

“Today Shawn Kemp learned that the Pierce County Attorney General has elected to file charges against him,” Boatman said in a statement. via ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. “He will enter a plea of ​​not guilty at his upcoming arraignment.

“He has fully cooperated with the police and the prosecutor’s office throughout this process. He is convinced that once the jury hears the witnesses and sees the evidence at trial, they will conclude that his defense that afternoon was justified.’

Officers actually responded to a report of ‘two suspects shooting at each other’ TMZ.

Kemp, above in 2021, was arrested in early March in connection with a drive-by shooting

Kemp is a legendary six-time NBA All-Star and played eight years for the Seattle Supersonics

The Seattle SuperSonics legend, 53, was booked by police on March 8 at 5:58 p.m. Pacific Time (8:58 p.m. EST), just hours after being involved in an alleged drive-by shooting involving two cars were in a shopping center parking lot. mall. Kemp was released on March 9.

Fox 13 reported that Kemp “stole property from his car on Tuesday [March 7] and followed his iPhone to Tacoma on Wednesday [March 8].’

A police report indicated that shots were fired in a parking lot near the 4500 block of South Steele Street, close to the Courtesy Tire store.

According to TMZ, four shots were heard and a revolver was found outside a Firestone Complete Auto Care. A video published by the website shows a man, who appears to be Kemp, throwing something out of the driver’s side window before his arrest, where police later found a gun.

Police said no one was injured in the shooting, but Kemp – initially identified as a 53-year-old man and later named in the report – was held at the scene.

Drive-by shooting is a class B felony under Washington state law and carries a 10-year prison sentence and a fine of up to $20,000. The incident occurred shortly before 2 p.m. and a gun was recovered from the parking lot.

Kemp was previously arrested in Shoreline in 2005 for a drug possession investigation, where he and another man were found with a small amount of cocaine, 60 grams of marijuana and a semi-automatic pistol.

A year later, he was arrested for possession of marijuana in Texas.

In his post-playing career, he was involved in a series of business ventures, most notably opening a cannabis dispensary in 2020.

He also owned a sports bar in Seattle’s Lower Queen Anne called Oskar’s Kitchen, but the establishment closed in 2015. He is reportedly still a co-owner of another restaurant in town.

The Pierce County Corrections website shows Kemp’s booking at 5:58 p.m. on March 8

A Google Street View image shows the parking lot where the alleged drive-by took place

Kemp, dressed in 40, watches during a 1996 NBA game at Arco Arena in Sacramento, California

Kemp was drafted in the first round of the 1989 NBA Draft by the Seattle SuperSonics, who became the 2008 Oklahoma City Thunder.

He played for the team for nine years and was an NBA All-Star for the last five years.

In 1997, he was traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers, where he played three seasons and earned a sixth All-Star honor.

At the end of his career, he played for the Portland Trail Blazers and Orlando Magic, where he retired in 2003.

Since his playing days, he has been actively involved in efforts to bring an NBA franchise back to Seattle after it lost its SuperSonics in 2008.

In 2022, Kemp told the Athletic he wouldn’t stop until the city “got the real Sonics back.”