Four police officers killed in shootout at coffee shop

Los Angeles Times

Four Seattle-area police officers were shot to death Sunday morning in a coffee shop in what officials called a brazen ambush by a lone gunman.

At least one officer apparently fought his way to the shop’s door and returned fire, possibly wounding the shooter, authorities said.

The officers, three men and a woman attached to the Lakewood Police Department, were conducting a routine pre-shift briefing over their laptops at the Forza Coffee Shop in Parkland, Wash., near McChord Air Force Base, about 35 miles south of Seattle.

“It was definitely an ambush, target situation. ... It was not a robbery,” said Pierce County sheriff’s Sgt. Ed Troyer, whose department is investigating the killings. “We have our work cut out for us.”

The slain officers, who were in uniform and wearing bulletproof vests, were pronounced dead at the scene. Their marked patrol cars were parked outside. They were identified as Sgt. Mark Renninger, 39; Ronald Owens, 37, Tina Griswald, 40, and Greg Richards, 42.

Two baristas and several other customers were neither targeted nor injured during the 8:15 a.m. shootings. It was not known whether the gunman, described as a black man in his 20s to 30s with a scruffy appearance, wearing a black jacket and jeans, said anything as he opened fire with a handgun and then fled on foot.

Nor was it clear whether the gunman stayed on foot.

“We know he left the coffee shop on foot, and after that we don’t know what happened,” said Pierce County spokesman Hunter George, who said a possible getaway car “is one of the things we’re looking into.”

Another Pierce County spokeswoman, Sheri Badger, said a white pickup truck was found abandoned not far from the scene and impounded for investigation.

Authorities offered a $10,000 reward for information, began searching for surveillance video and sent 100 or more officers and dogs throughout the surrounding area.

“We’ve got multiple people showing up on their days off. Every person you could think of is out here,” Badger said.

Badger said officers took a person of interest into custody shortly after the shootings but had not identified the person as a suspect.

“By the way they’re talking, it doesn’t look like they’re any more than a witness,” she said.

Police also took into custody a man who called 911 and claimed to be the shooter. He was ruled out as a suspect but faces charges in connection with the false report, Badger said.

The slayings stunned a community that only recently buried another police officer, who was shot to death in his parked patrol car in Seattle. The suspect in that case was shot during his arrest and remains hospitalized.

Investigators said there had been no threats against the Lakewood Police Department or any of the officers killed Sunday. Lakewood, which previously contracted with Pierce County for law enforcement services, has had its own police force for five years. It had 102 sworn officers.

“Something very terrible happened today,” Pierce County Sheriff Paul Pastor told reporters. “This is an example of the danger that police officers and deputy sheriffs and state troopers face every day. The person or people who did this not only harmed us; they harmed the good that we can do in the community.”

The coffee shop where the four officers were killed is in a semi-industrial unincorporated area of Pierce County next to a Coca-Cola bottling plant.

Michael Bostwick, a retired computer worker who has his coffee every Sunday morning at a nearby tavern, said he arrived just as the first emergency vehicles showed up. He said officers frequently have coffee at one or another of the businesses in the area, which he said is not known for serious crime.

“There haven’t been any gang issues here for years, that I’m aware of. The police have had real good control of it and have had since the early ’90s,” he said.

Troyer warned citizens to be wary.

“We have somebody who shot four police officers in uniform. Don’t put yourself in harm’s way,” he said. “Somebody that’s out there and has already done that probably isn’t afraid to do anything else to somebody else, and that’s somebody who’s very, very dangerous.”

Washington Gov. Chris Gregoire said she was “shocked and horrified” at the killings and offered the state’s help in the crime.

“Our police put their lives on the line every day, and tragedies like this remind us of the risks they continually take to keep our communities safe,” she said in a statement. “My heart goes out to the family, friends and co-workers of these officers, as well as the entire law enforcement community.”