Seattle SuperSonics legend Shawn Kemp arrested for drive-by shooting

TACOMA, Wash. (KPTV) - Seattle SuperSonics legend Shawn Kemp was booked into the Pierce County Jail on Wednesday, according to officials.

Kemp was booked into jail in connection with a drive-by shooting outside the Tacoma Mall.

The shooting call came into police just before 2 p.m. Shots were fired from a passing vehicle in the parking lot on the northeast side of the mall near the Courtesy Tire store.

Police said nobody was hurt in the shooting, and that the suspect initially identified as a 53-year-old man was detained at the scene.

Multiple sources in Seattle confirm that Shawn Kemp is the suspect.

According to the Pierce (Wash.) Corrections Inmate listings, six-time NBA All-Star Shawn Kemp -- a legendary member of the Seattle Sonics -- has been booked in an alleged drive-by shooting. https://t.co/gix0Ht9E9F
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) March 9, 2023

Kemp is a 6-time NBA All-Star. He was a first-round draft pick in the 1989 NBA draft.

From 1989 to 1997 he played 625 games with Seattle and helped the Sonics reach the NBA Finals in 1996. Kemp later played with the Portland Trail Blazers from 2000 to 2002.

Kemp was arrested in 2005 in Shoreline for investigation of drug possession and in 2006 in another drug investigation in Texas.

Since his retirement from professional basketball, Kemp has pursued multiple Seattle business opportunities banking on his Sonics career.

He and his business partners operate two locations in Seattle of Shawn Kemp’s Cannabis.

In 2022, Kemp was part of the campaign to bring an NBA franchise back to Seattle, telling The Athletic he wouldn’t stop until the city got “the actual Sonics back.”

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