Shot by cop: Richard Clark, 49

Richard Clark, 49, was shot and killed Oct. 30 by a Tucson police SWAT officer after Clark reportedly robbed a Burger King then hid out in a midtown motel for five hours, police said.

Clark was shot to death shortly after 8 a.m., after locking himself in a room at the Frontier Motel, 227 W. Drachman St., around 3 a.m., Sgt. Fabian Pacheco said.

Police had used several tactics to get Clark to surrender, Pacheco said, including speaking through a bullhorn and penetrating the room with pepper balls, a flash-bang distraction grenade and tear gas.

None of it worked.

Police finally blew the door open with a small explosive device, Pacheco said, and police ordered Clark to drop his gun.

Officer John Malovich fired at Clark after he refused to comply with repeated commands to drop the gun. Pacheco did not say how many shots were fired.

The Burger King robbery kicked off the showdown on Oct. 29 around 6 p.m., Pacheco said, when a man went into the restaurant's location at 454 W. Grant Road, pulled out a gun and demanded money.

The robber fled in a pickup and was pursued by an employee for a short time until he was able to get away.

Shortly before 2 a.m., the Burger King employee and the manager flagged down a police officer on Oracle Road to say they saw the robber's truck at the motel. That's when police showed up at the Frontier and tried to get Clark to come out of his room.

Clark's record includes three felony arrest warrants in California for armed robbery, one of them for a bank robbery in Indio, Calif., Pacheco said.
 
Malovich is a nine-year veteran of the police force and, as is procedure with all officer-involved shootings, has been placed on administrative leave while the incident is investigated.

Do you know anything about Richard Clark? Please e-mail rynski@tucsoncitizen.com


Read story: SWAT cop kills robbery suspect at hotel, ending 5-hour standoff