4 police officers killed in Wash. coffee shop

PARKLAND, Wash. - Four police officers were shot and killed Sunday morning as they sat in a coffee shop Sunday morning in what sheriff's officials described as an "ambush."

The officers were in the cafe at a strip mall in the Tacoma suburb of Lakewood with their laptop computers, preparing for their day shifts, when one or two gunmen walked in and opened fire, Pierce County Sheriff's spokesman Ed Troyer said.

"This was a targeted, selected ambush," Troyer said, adding that customers and baristas were in the Forza Coffee shop at the time but no one else was shot at or injured

Authorities were searching for the gunmen, and nearby McChord Air Force Base was put on alert.

A $10,000 reward was being offered for information leading to those responsible.

Brad Carpenter, the founder of Forza Coffee, told NBC News that all his employees were accounted for. A retired police officer himself, Carpenter started Forza in 2002 and now has 21 stores, primarily in the Tacoma area.

To all of you, especially in uniform, please be careful and watch your backs, maybe this is a situation that could have been avoided.

PARKLAND, Wash. - Four police officers were shot and killed Sunday morning as they sat in a coffee shop Sunday morning in what sheriff's officials described as an "ambush."

The officers were in the cafe at a strip mall in the Tacoma suburb of Lakewood with their laptop computers, preparing for their day shifts, when one or two gunmen walked in and opened fire, Pierce County Sheriff's spokesman Ed Troyer said.

"This was a targeted, selected ambush," Troyer said, adding that customers and baristas were in the Forza Coffee shop at the time but no one else was shot at or injured

Authorities were searching for the gunmen, and nearby McChord Air Force Base was put on alert.

A $10,000 reward was being offered for information leading to those responsible.

Brad Carpenter, the founder of Forza Coffee, told NBC News that all his employees were accounted for. A retired police officer himself, Carpenter started Forza in 2002 and now has 21 stores, primarily in the Tacoma area.

To all of you, especially in uniform, please be careful and watch your backs, maybe this is a situation that could have been avoided.

Oh my! That is horrible. Isn't this the same state where another officer was shot while sitting in his car with a trainee?

another spook killing cops......but opps its not a hate crime

another spook killing cops......but opps its not a hate crime


and you guys re worring about a 2% pay raise, we can all use the money, but you also have be very aware of how society is changing. people hate the cops and some are even at war with us. fellows i cant stress how important it is for us to look out for each other and stop all the back stabbing and throwing one another underneath the bus. who knows the one you stab may be the 94 that saves your life one day. stay safe

Come on, only $10k reward for 4 officers murdered???? We can do better than that. This guy needs to be caught and bring out the medevil torture on him. Drawn and quartered or burned alive at the stake. This peice of human excrement deserves no mercy. Or at the very least a public execution. Letting someone see what will happen to them if they murder a police officer, or murder anyone for that matter, is a great deterrent. A rule of policework that you will never find in the policy and procedure manual is that a person arrested for battery LEO always gets thumped so next time he will think twice before hitting a police officer. Another rule of police work (Central and North Fl. Troopers take note) Cops never write Cops. Old School and proud of it. I was taught how to be a police officer not whatever is being turned out of the academy nowadays. I have a question for the new guys, nowadays are they teaching a class on how to stay 10-6 while your zone partner has to handle all the calls in your zone? Ive seen or heard every lame exscuse there is to get out of taking a paper call in your zone. "Bravo so and so, show me 10-6 this and 10-6 that, show me on a signal 15 this and signal 15 that, 10-6 in the city," Unfriggenbelievable with you guys.

Yet, another needless and senseless killing of law enforcement officers. I do have to ask myself in the 30 years that I was a road patrol officer, working for most of my career in nasty drug areas, how was it that I made it through. Here is what I learned from my training officer, they were not called FTO back then. I was told that the key to doing this job was being a survivor. That means playing a "what if" game in my head each time I went to a call. I would try to think of how I would counter situations if they came to pass when on a call. I also never ate in a restaurant with my zone partners after I saw that the cook behind the counter was one of the 10-15's we made. Maybe it was paranoid on my part but to survive this job I had to look at keeping a mentality that you don't know what's around the next turn.

All of you that wear the uniform, take just a moment to think about your daily work habits and see if you may be a sitting duck. Don't set a pattern, try meeting your zone partners in a location to protect yourselves. Don't get the "tunnel vision" syndrome, "Oh no, that could never happen to me"! I saw too many officers in my career make some very bad decisions that cost them their lives. Please don't become a statistic or a name on the granite wall we all know about.

I was a field training officer for 18 years and any of my trainees would tell you that my first priority would be to hammer in their minds the importance about officer safety. I did active roll play situations with trainees to open their eyes to see how to avoid pitfalls that could end their lives.

This incident in Washington state is said to be an ambush and not knowing all the details yet my only thoughts are, were these officers visitng this coffee shop on a frequent basis and did they let their guard down. You all know what I am saying here, just be more on the cautious side when wearing that uniform because it's just another reason for some scumbag to seek his revenge in a moment where you may think, it's Sunday morning, the four of us are having coffee, working on our laptops, there are four of us, what can happen????

I agree with all you say. But I do think the new recruits are overwhelmed with information. There is too much emphasis on legal, save-the-department's-arse training and not enough survival training. It's all about reducing admin's liability.

I can remember my training officer stopping the car and asking me "where are you right now?" After the first time stammering around looking for street signs I made it a point to look at the signs every time I turned a corner and then played the game silently by myself. Always know where you are!

Today, although long retired, I still look inside at a gas station before fueling up. Robbery in progress? Suspicious people? Self training. Are you bored just driving around? Can you describe the car you just passed? Occupants? Keep your mind active and challenged.

I remember in the 70's a Fort Lauderdale PD range officer telling me he had an escape plan for his family in case someone broke into their home. How they were to crawl out through certain exits and where weapons were hidden. I thought that was bizarre at the time but grew to understand the importance of such strategic planning.

Some of you even make your personal vehicles (and thus family) targets. Get rid of the PBA medallion on the tag, the handcuffs or flexcuffs hanging from the rear view mirror, the BSO jacket in the window and the hat on the back deck. Why do you want to advertise you are the Man? You're just an identifiable target. Learn to live low.

BTW, just my personal opinion but I think this is the beginning of the revolution so arm up and be prepared. It's been coming for years.

Four officers in one place is not a good survival strategy. I immediately thought of the Parkland incident where roll call was held at a donut shop and filmed by a customer and then exposed to the press. My first thought at the time was not of the congregation but of the lack of officer safety. Nothing against these poor souls who were gunned down but learn from this experience. You can say No Thanks to an offer to congregate in mass. You won't look unfriendly - just smart. I believe there was an old military saying about just such opportunities and it involved rolling a hand grenade into the group. We used to say that about when a group of brass would stop to talk. Wish I had a hand grenade...it was funny then.

The Parkland I was referring to was the one in Broward County - what a freakn' coincidence.

This years in service will be 10 hours of practicing drwaing your weapon and shooting from a seated position while using your off hand to dunk doughnuts. good luck

On the 2nd day of May 2000 Former Repubilcan Presidential Candidate and Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee signed the death warrants for the four police officers in Lakewood, WA . That is the day that Huckabee commuted Maurice Clemmons 95 year prison sentence allowing him to murder four police officers on November 29, 2009. Mike Huckabee is as responsible for the killing of the four police officers as if he pulled the trigger himself. Had he not commuted Maurice Clemmons 95 year sentence these four police officers would still be alive today. Huckabee being the coward that he is then gives a statement to the press implying that it is the state of Arkansas Prosecutors fault that Maurice Clemmons is not in prison where he belongs. Maurice Clemmons should be put to death for these murders right along side that coward Mike Huckabee. I am urging evryone to call and email Fox News demanding that they fire Mike Huckabee immediately.Guest

Go screw yourself you big idiot..its not Huckabees fault its you scumbag liberals that put pressure on us good Americans by letting all those gigs out of prison another words he probably had to sign it along with 5000 others that were given to him by you scumbag liberals.......4 WHITE POLICE OFFICERS DEAD BY ONE BLACK MALE.....IF IT WAS THE OPPOSITE YOU ALL WOULD BE YELLING HATE CRIME....THESE AFRICANS ALWAYS GO BACK TO THEIR NATURAL STATE AND WAYS LIKE AN APE IN AFRICA, GEE JUST LOOK AT OJ AND TIGER WOODS