Leave your feedback Share Copy URL https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/manhunt-intensifies-after-state-police-slayings Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Tumblr Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Transcript Four police officers were killed in Washington state Sunday while waiting for their shifts to start. Jeffrey Brown speaks with a Seattle Post-Intelligencer reporter for more on the manhunt for the suspected shooter. Read the Full Transcript Notice: Transcripts are machine and human generated and lightly edited for accuracy. They may contain errors. JEFFREY BROWN: The shooting occurred yesterday morning at a coffee shop in the suburb of Lakewood, about 35 miles south of Seattle. Police say the suspect shot the officers while they were sitting at a counter at the start of their shift. Police have identified the suspect as Maurice Clemmons. He has an extensive violent criminal record in Arkansas and Washington State.Today, law enforcement searched the area for Clemmons. He was thought to have been cornered by a SWAT team at a Seattle home overnight, but a search showed he had fled the scene, and Clemmons remains on the loose.Chris Grygiel is part of the reporting team at the news Web site Seattlepi.com that's covering the story. And he joins me now.Chris, is there any known motive at this point, any sense that these particular officers were targeted? CHRIS GRYGIEL, Seattlepi.com: No, it's not believed that these officers were targeted because of who they were at individuals, but, rather, targeted because they were police officers.This is, you know, a very hectic, chaotic situation. The best motive that police have right now is — is that this man was mentally unstable and perhaps facing, you know, a very long prison term, and snapped. JEFFREY BROWN: So, this was a place, though, that police officers were known to gather. So, in essence these officers, Mark Renninger, Ronald Owens, Tina Griswold, and Greg Richards, were just — happened to be there is what they're thinking is now and were ambushed? CHRIS GRYGIEL: It looks that way. The owner of that coffee shop is a former policemen. And these officers were having coffee, checking their laptops, preparing for their shift. And they just happened to be there when this man entered the store. JEFFREY BROWN: And Mr. Clemmons is tied how? Why is he the prime suspect? Is this eyewitnesses? Or what is known about what ties him to the killings? CHRIS GRYGIEL: You know, probably, I think it's a combination of tips, witnesses. The police all day yesterday were urging people to call tip lines, to contact them if they had any information about this case.This case was all over the media in Washington State all day yesterday and throughout the night and again today. And, late yesterday afternoon, they announced that Mr. Clemmons was a person of interest, and then late, late last night, they said that he was a suspect and had possibly been wounded in the confrontation with the officers.