SEATTLE RED

Suits: ‘This state isn’t friendly to your business’ after Kemp arrested for involvement in Tacoma shooting

Mar 9, 2023, 12:13 PM | Updated: Oct 1, 2024, 6:10 am

Kemp...

Former NBA player Shawn Kemp at the Reebok Classic Breakout Classic Rap Roundtable at Philadelphia University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Lisa Lake/Getty Images for Reebok)

(Photo by Lisa Lake/Getty Images for Reebok)

Former Seattle SuperSonics star Shawn Kemp was arrested on Wednesday in Tacoma, Washington, on a drive-by shooting charge, according to multiple reports.

Kemp is believed to be connected with the shooting near Tacoma Mall early Wednesday afternoon. 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.

“I’m not entirely sure about here, but he has a history in other states with other stuff. I don’t know if he has a felony conviction, but if he’s not supposed to own a handgun, then it’s illegal possession,” Bryan Suits said on The Bryan Suits Show. “But if he can own a handgun, you’re allowed to defend yourself. If you have one of these iPhones, whether it’s your Renton PD or your King County Sheriff’s Department, what confidence do you have that it would be a priority that they’d go chase it down?”

Seattle’s KIRO 7 published a video of the alleged incident Wednesday evening, capturing Kemp’s verbal confrontation with another man in the Tacoma mall parking lot.

The Porsche captured on video at the scene is registered to Kemp, according to KIRO 7. The Pierce County Sheriff’s Department later confirmed Kemp was arrested in connection with the shooting.

“But that’s the thing, if you are going to do retail marijuana, you learn real early that this state isn’t friendly to your business,” Suits said. “It says it is, it legalized it, but he can’t bank. There’s a lot of cash in there. Kids are robbing stores like yours for cash or weed. Anyway, I got to say it for juror’s sympathy unless they just make it go away.”

The former six-time NBA all-star expanded his cannabis business last month when he opened his second dispensary, this time located in Seattle’s SODO neighborhood.

Listen to Suits’ full conversation on Shawn Kemp’s arrest:

Listen to the Bryan Suits Show weekday mornings from 6 – 9 a.m. on KTTH 770 AM (HD Radio 97.3 FM HD-Channel 3). Subscribe to the podcast here.

Please follow our Community Guidelines

In this frame grab from video, Miguel Salguero Olivares, who is on trial for the murder and rape of...

Associated Press

Jury convicts man of rape, murder 14 years after UNC student’s death

A man accused of killing a North Carolina college student 14 years ago was convicted Friday of first-degree murder, rape and other charges after prosecutors told jurors that forensic evidence was “screaming his name.” Faith Hedgepeth was a 19-year-old sophomore at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill when she was beaten to death […]

12 minutes ago

This photo made with a smartphone shows U.S. Coast Guard officer Josh Law, left, and lieutenant Miy...

Associated Press

AP Interview: Coast Guard swimmer says he fought waves, darkness to rescue 16 people from ocean

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Strapped into a harness, Josh Law was lowered from a U.S. Coast Guard helicopter into the rough Pacific Ocean in the pitch black night, far off the Mexican coast. The force of the helicopter blades pummeled the water, whipping up spray and turbulence. The Coast Guard rescue swimmer couldn’t hear anything […]

20 minutes ago

Police tape is placed outside Silver Rail Elementary school, where a shooting took place, on Thursd...

Associated Press

Oregon man who killed school shooter says he regrets there were children he didn’t save

The Oregon man who fatally shot a teenage gunman to end a deadly rampage at an elementary school last week says he was the children’s “last line of defense” and that he regrets not arriving soon enough to save them all. Kaylub Giamanco, whose two daughters attend Silver Rail Elementary, where the Oct. 15 attack […]

57 minutes ago

...

No Author

Win Tickets to See the Seahawks Take on the Arizona Cardinals November 8th!

The Seattle Seahawks are back at Lumen Field for an NFC West showdown, and KIRO Newsradio is giving you the chance to be there! Visit the KIRO Newsradio app during the sweepstakes for your chance to win four tickets to see the Seattle Seahawks take on the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday, November 8th. Don’t miss […]

1 hour ago

Spanaway Fire Explosion...

James Lynch

Person found dead inside RV after explosion and fire in Spanaway

One person was found dead inside a burning RV after deputies, responding to an unrelated call, heard an explosion in Spanaway.

1 hour ago

FILE - Senior hurricane specialists Eric Blake, left, and Richard Pasch, right, work at the Nationa...

Associated Press

With hurricane off Mexico sharing name with Vice President JD Vance, the social media memes fly

As Vice President JD Vance travels the U.S. supporting Republican candidates in next month’s election, another Vance is on a whirlwind tour off Mexico’s Pacific Coast. The storm named Vance that strengthened into a hurricane on Friday is not actually named after the vice president, despite a flurry of social media comments linking the two. […]

2 hours ago

Suits: ‘This state isn’t friendly to your business’ after Kemp arrested for involvement in Tacoma shooting