After an Unthinkable Tragedy, Lakewood Begins to Heal

Saturday, December 12, 2009, at 8:14 am, more than 100 people were waiting in line at the Forza coffee shop where the four Lakewood (WA) Police officers -- Sgt. Mark Renninger and Officers Ron Owens, Tina Griswold and Greg Richards -- were ambushed and killed only 12 days earlier. The people were in line not just to buy coffee but to honor the memory and sacrifice of the officers and to formally re-open the store.

Inside the store, a poster with pictures of the four officers, along with Seattle Police Officer Timothy Brenton, who was killed on October 31, 2009, in Seattle, was proudly displayed on the walls. The shop re-opened with support from the Lakewood Police Department and the officers' families. Lakewood Police Chief Bret Farrar was first in line and felt very strongly that the shop should re-open because, "You can't let the bad guys win."

To read the full article from the Seattle Times, please visit: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2010494733_coffeeshop13m.html.

The Lakewood Memorial Service was held on December 8, 2009, in the Tacoma Dome in Tacoma, WA. There were more than 2,000 officers in the official procession and over 20,000 people at the Dome, with hundreds of other indivduals attending viewing ceremonies at other sites. Pictures from the ceremony are available at: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/photogalleries/localnews2010453392/13.html.