Just when you thought there might not be any more lapses to chronicle, it turns out that the Washington State Department of Corrections, which should have been monitoring Maurice Clemmons in the days before he shot four Lakewood police officers, didn't even know Clemmons had been released from jail.

The six days after Clemmons' release from jail represent a missed opportunity to avert tragedy, one in which he benefited from a critical lapse in DOC's oversight.

A review of records obtained by The Seattle Times under a public-disclosure request shows that Clemmons' community-corrections officer, who was new to the case, lost track of him. The Pierce County Jail didn't tell him Clemmons had been released. And an internal DOC computer system, set up to alert DOC officers when offenders under their watch get into trouble, doesn't track releases from county jails.