Police killing suspect linked to arsons

SEATTLE, Nov. 8 (UPI) -- A man authorities accuse of killing a Seattle police officer had homemade explosives and was linked to pipe-bomb arsons of police cars, investigators say.

Christopher Monfort, 39, of Tukwila, Wash., had explosive devices, a military assault rifle and another firearm in his apartment, along with news reports about the Oct. 22 pipe bombings of four Seattle police vehicles, SeattlePI.com reported Sunday.

Monfort was shot and injured by police Friday after he allegedly pulled a gun on officers but was unable to fire on them because the gun failed. He had been tracked as a suspect in the Oct. 31 slaying of Seattle Police Officer Tim Brenton in a drive-by ambush.

An unnamed police source told the Web site an American flag found near where Brenton was shot provided a link between the slaying and the police car arsons. The sources said a note threatening harm to police officers was found at the scene of the arsons, along with flyers referring to "police brutality" and a court case in which a King County sheriff's deputy is accused of beating a teenage girl in an airport holding cell.