A 49-year old armed robbery suspect was shot and killed in his motel room by a Tucson Police officer on Thursday, October 30. Richard Clark was suspected of holding up a Burger King restaurant in Tucson on October 29, and was wanted on three felony armed robbery warrants from three different jurisdictions in California.

Courtesy of Tucson Police Department

Clark

The Tucson robbery took place just after 6 p.m. in the 400 block of West Grant Road. The suspect was followed by an employee of the restaurant, who lost sight of his vehicle near Stone and Drachman.

Just before 2 a.m., employees of the Burger King told police that they had located the suspect vehicle at the Frontier Motel on West Drachman. The motel was evacuated and SWAT personnel and hostage negotiators were brought in.

Police were unable to get the suspect to leave the room using pepper spray and tear gas, so SWAT officers broke down the door and entered the room. When the suspect ignored repeated commands to drop a gun, SWAT officer John Malovich shot and killed Clark.

The California warrants accuse Clark of armed robberies in Indio, Yucaipa, and another jurisdiction in Northern California.

Officer Malovich has been placed on administrative leave pending an investigation, which is standard procedure in these types of incidents.