Collection of Articles about Police Officers Killed by Semi-Automatic ...

Clark, 48, was arrested several years ago in Leelanau County for spray-painting
the entrance drive of an exclusive neighborhood on West Grand Traverse Bay with
graffiti relating to the Mafia.
But even Willson was surprised when he learned Clark's house on Wellington
Street was the center of a standoff after a police officer was shot there Tuesday
afternoon.
"There were no harassing phone calls, nothing in his background to say he was a
violent person. But definitely a paranoid person," Willson said.
Ellie Kortokrax, of 515 Webster St., has been a neighbor and acquaintance of Clark
nearly all her life. They graduated from Traverse City High School together in
1968.
She watched from her back porch Tuesday afternoon as Clark shouted back and
forth with police officers, followed quickly by an eruption of gun shots just after 4
p.m.
"I heard the first exchange of gunfire," she said, and a few minutes later watched
as police pulled a wounded officer off the porch. "You could see them dragging a
body," she said.
Kortokrax knew Clark better than most of the neighbors. "He's been part of this
neighborhood for a long time," she said. "I'm sorry about the whole thing. But I'm
not surprised ... John has never been right ever since high school."
Clark's late father, John Clark Sr., was a successful real estate man in Traverse
City. Neighbors say he left his family several rental homes around the town that
they used for income, and that Clark was a caretaker for some of the homes.
Cathy Hamilton lives along State Street across an alley from Clark's large home.
"We wave, we don't really don't talk," she said.
Other neighbors describe Clark as largely a recluse, although he was much more
noticeable in his yard and around his home in recent days.
"Recently he's been talking to people - nothing that was frightening," said
neighbor Nancy Pihlcrantz who lives along State Street.
Retired 86th District Court judge Richard L. Benedict, who lives a few blocks from
Clark's home, knew Clark from both in court and in the neighborhood.
"I've dealt with him before," the retired judge said. "He's always been this way.
He's always believed the Mafia was after him."
Commissioner Phill Orth recalled that Clark had come to a city commission
meeting a couple of years ago and complained that local police and prosecutors
were involved somehow with organized crime.
http://www.record-eagle.com/news/clark/13shoot.htm
GUNMAN KILLS TC OFFICER
Gunshots shatter the tranquility of a residential neighborhood
May 13, 1998 WEDNESDAY UPDATE
John Charles Clark, 48, was arrested by an emergency response team of the
Michigan State Police at 12:45 a.m. today.