Ex-NBA star Shawn Kemp pleads guilty to assault charge in Washington parking lot shooting

Former NBA star Shawn Kemp pleaded guilty to an assault charge on Tuesday for shooting at two men inside a vehicle in a Washington state mall parking lot.

Kemp, 55, pleaded guilty to second-degree assault in Pierce County Superior Court in Tacoma as part of a plea agreement, according to the county Prosecuting Attorney’s Office. The Toyota 4Runner the men were inside and another vehicle were damaged in the March 2023 shooting, but the men were not hurt.

Kemp was initially charged with one count of first-degree assault with a firearm enhancement, but prosecutors last week added another count of assault as well as a drive-by shooting charge, The Seattle Times reported. Convictions on those charges could have resulted in a lengthy prison term.

He will be sentenced in August. Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Thomas Howe recommended that Kemp be sentenced to nine months in jail, one year of Department of Corrections supervision and support after he is released, and to pay restitution.

Kemp, a six-time NBA all-star who played for the Seattle SuperSonics from 1989 to 1997, declined to comment to the newspaper on Tuesday.

“Shawn is committed to moving forward in a positive direction,” Kemp’s attorney, Tim Leary, told the Times. “He was presented with an offer from the state that allows him to take responsibility, but I think also recognizes the self-defense nature of how this transpired.”

According to court documents filed by Kemp’s attorneys, Kemp and several employees who worked at his cannabis dispensary were at a Seattle concert venue when Kemp’s truck was broken into on March 8, 2023. An employee’s purse was stolen along with keys to Kemp’s business, a cellphone, paperwork and sports memorabilia, including game-worn Gary Payton and Kemp jerseys that were to be auctioned off for charity, the defense’s trial brief says.

Using a phone tracking app, Kemp located and briefly tried to talk to the driver of the 4Runner that was circling a casino parking lot, according to the trial brief. The men in the vehicle afterward dumped some of Kemp’s belongings but hung on to the phone, the brief says.

Kemp later saw his phone was near the Tacoma Mall. He drove there, spotted the same 4Runner and “expressed his understandable frustration” with the driver, according to the brief.

The brief says a man in the back seat “fired off a round from a handgun at Mr. Kemp. Mr. Kemp returned fire and attempted to disable the Toyota. It did not work.” The 4Runner fled and when the vehicle was found abandoned days later, an empty holster was found inside but there was no gun, documents said.

A police call log included in court records indicates that at least one witness who called 911 reported that two men were firing at each other.

Howe, in a statement explaining the plea agreement, wrote that because of the two witnesses’ past crimes of dishonesty and the “fact that those people were illegally in possession” of Kemp’s belongings, the case should be resolved short of trial.

As part of his plea, Kemp cannot have a firearm and will be required to provide a sample for a law enforcement DNA database.

Kemp debuted in the NBA during the 1989-90 season as a 20-year-old who had never played college basketball. He also played for Cleveland, Portland and Orlando and was known for his high-flying dunks.

Reporting by The Associated Press.

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