CO Corrections Director Killed
***UPDATE 6:31 P.M.***ABC 17 News talked with the Director of Missouri’s Department of Corrections (D.O.C.), George Lombardi. He worked with Clements for many years and says this is tough right now and the entire department is shocked at the news.D.O.C workers tell us Clements was a leader, hard worker, and very creative at his job. They say on top of that he was a great person. D.O.C. leaders say they were shocked and couldn’t believe what they were hearing.”This is such a tragic loss obviously for Colorado right away, but certainly for all of us here in Missouri,” Lombardi explains. “We’re really having a hard time dealing with this.”Lombardi says he informed the entire department about it this morning and says they all had the same response he did. We also reached out to former D.O.C. director Gary Kempker. He says Clements always wanted to improve public safety, but his first concern was always about how others were. This murder has many D.O.C. officers across the country on high alert. But in Missouri, leaders aren’t necessarily concerned about a copycat.”All of us in the criminal justice system have some vulnerability, there’s no question about it, but this is extraordinary what’s happened with Tom, I know of no other person who has suffered this kind of situation,” Lombardi says.Officials aren’t going as far as requiring its workers do take any extra precautions.***UPDATE 8:42 A.M.***Governor Nixon has released a statement following the shooting death of Tom Clements:”This is a heartbreaking tragedy for Tom Clements’ family and everyone who was fortunate enough to have known him, including his many friends at the Missouri Department of Corrections,” Gov. Nixon said. “Tom dedicated his professional life and his considerable skills to public service and protection, and the citizens of Missouri join the people of Colorado in mourning this tremendous loss.”***UPDATE 8:39 A.M.***Those at the Missouri Department of Corrections say the death of Clements has hit them particularly hard. Tom started for the Missouri Department of Corrections in 1979 as a parole officer and was with DOC until 2011 when he left for Colorado.Director of Missouri Department of Corrections, George Lombardi, says Tom was well respected a great leader and well thought of. Clements had lived in Columbia.***ORIGINAL STORY***(AP) – The head of the Colorado Department of Corrections has been shot and killed at his home, and authorities say the gunman is on the loose.Sheriff’s Lt. Jeff Kramer says Tom Clements was shot at around 8:30 p.m. Tuesday night when he answered his front door in Monument, north of Colorado Springs.Kramer says a family member called 911 to report the shooting and officers found Clements dead in his home. Kramer says search dogs have been called in to search a wooded area around Clements’ home.Kramer says authorities are now going house to house trying to find out what neighbors know about the shooting.Gov. John Hickenlooper appointed Clements to the post in 2011 after he served for more than three decades in the Missouri Department of Corrections.
