Sunday, November 29, 2009
Crime More Details on the Four Officers Killed This Morning
Posted by Dominic Holden on Sun, Nov 29, 2009 at 11:13 AM
The image below shows a recent photo of Forza Coffee, where four officers were shot dead at about 8:15 a.m., at the corner of a strip mall south of Tacoma. If you swing the image around (click and drag), you can see it's directly across the street from McChord Air Force Base.
The Tacoma News Tribune has the latest updates, including a very rough description of a suspect. "Witnesses described the killer as a black man, 5-foot-8 to 5-foot-9, in his 20s or 30s, with scruffy facial hair and wearing a black coat and blue jeans." the Trib reports. There may have been two gunmen.
UPDATE: Seattlepi.com reports the victims, all officers of the Lakewood Police Department, were three men and one woman.
UPDATE: The Trib reports that Pierce County Prosecutor Mark Lindquist said, "One of our main concerns right now is we still have some crazy coldblooded killer or killers on the loose."
UPDATE 2:00 PM: Washington State Attorney General Rob McKenna has issued this statement:
“Our thoughts and prayers are with the families of the police officers murdered today in Lakewood,” McKenna said. “This outrageous act of violence against our brave protectors is a direct assault on the safety of our entire community. I have directed all of the criminal justice resources of this office, including our Homicide Investigation Tracking System and HITS Unit criminal investigators, be made available to those conducting the investigation into these assassinations. Our prosecutors and investigators stand ready to help bring those who committed this murderous act to justice.”About the AGO’s HITS unit:
The Washington State Attorney General's Homicide Investigation Tracking System (HITS) comprises investigators and the HITS database—a software application designed to store crime-related information voluntarily contributed by police and sheriffs’ departments in the Pacific Northwest. The database acts as a central repository for detailed information on violent crimes occurring in Washington and Oregon.
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1
When I read the story this morning I thought of Street View-ing it, but felt like some spectacle-feeding rabble out of Dickens. Now I'm excited to see you've put up the image, so that tells me how cheap I am after all.
2
Between this and the killing of the Seattle officer, I feel like this is just the first wave of the insanity.
I hope the NW does not become known as cop-killer central.
I hope the NW does not become known as cop-killer central.
3
Seatac security has all seen a picture of the shooter or an accomplice - I was in line as they passed it around about 30min ago. Looks like a scary MF'er.
5
How could this have happened? Was it a sharpshooter targeting from a distance? Did he just come up and them and popped them one by one? Details.
8
A modest proposal to The Stranger (and other media on the web):
when a story as horrific as this occurs, TURN OFF THE COMMENTS.
Instead, work to find out how you can funnel condolescences in the form of donations to the victims' families, or at least try to prepare something in anticipation of that eventual need.
(this is more a reaction to the initial thread here than this one.)
when a story as horrific as this occurs, TURN OFF THE COMMENTS.
Instead, work to find out how you can funnel condolescences in the form of donations to the victims' families, or at least try to prepare something in anticipation of that eventual need.
(this is more a reaction to the initial thread here than this one.)
9
Jeez,
Reading blogs on developing news stories shows how asinine some people are. I’ve scanned several news websites’ comments sections on this story and see a pattern of stupidity.
This incident is obviously a result of:
From so-called liberals:
police corruption
too many guns on the street
revenge for some past wrong
racism
overuse of the death penalty
hate talk from the right
I’m a liberal myself so please shut the hell up! You’re embarassing us.
From so-calleed conservatives:
a horribly leniant justice system
too few guns on the street (even though the cops all had guns themselves)
multi-culturalism
the OJ trial
underuse of the death penalty
hate talk from the left
from so-called religious folks:
the end times
proof that our society is not Christian and going downhill
Everyone is also saying how this is proof that our society is very violent (even though the 1970s were much more violent)
Let’s just stay with what we know until we find out more facts:
Four police officers (three men and one woman) have been killed. We don’t know if they were targeted for a particular reason or if it was random violence against the police) We also don’t know the racial makeup of these officers yet.
There were several witnesses.
The police are now looking for a scruffy looking black man in his 20s or 30s.
That’s it. That’s all we know.
My heart goes out to the families of the deceased and to the witnesses who will be scarred for life.
Reading blogs on developing news stories shows how asinine some people are. I’ve scanned several news websites’ comments sections on this story and see a pattern of stupidity.
This incident is obviously a result of:
From so-called liberals:
police corruption
too many guns on the street
revenge for some past wrong
racism
overuse of the death penalty
hate talk from the right
I’m a liberal myself so please shut the hell up! You’re embarassing us.
From so-calleed conservatives:
a horribly leniant justice system
too few guns on the street (even though the cops all had guns themselves)
multi-culturalism
the OJ trial
underuse of the death penalty
hate talk from the left
from so-called religious folks:
the end times
proof that our society is not Christian and going downhill
Everyone is also saying how this is proof that our society is very violent (even though the 1970s were much more violent)
Let’s just stay with what we know until we find out more facts:
Four police officers (three men and one woman) have been killed. We don’t know if they were targeted for a particular reason or if it was random violence against the police) We also don’t know the racial makeup of these officers yet.
There were several witnesses.
The police are now looking for a scruffy looking black man in his 20s or 30s.
That’s it. That’s all we know.
My heart goes out to the families of the deceased and to the witnesses who will be scarred for life.
10
I just called the Lakewood Police Department.
Nothing online has been set up yet for donations, but will be soon.
They do have an address one can send donation checks to:
L.P.I.G. Benevolent Fund
P.O. Box 99579
Lakewood WA, 98499
Make checks to: L.P.I.G. Benevolent Fund
(L.P.I.G. = Lakewood Police Independent Guild)
More information will be available soon.
I've also set up a temporary email address called help.lakewood.wa.police at gmail dot com
Email there if you want to be updated periodically on other ways to help. However, I hope the media will become a better source for this information soon. Right now, they're not.
Nothing online has been set up yet for donations, but will be soon.
They do have an address one can send donation checks to:
L.P.I.G. Benevolent Fund
P.O. Box 99579
Lakewood WA, 98499
Make checks to: L.P.I.G. Benevolent Fund
(L.P.I.G. = Lakewood Police Independent Guild)
More information will be available soon.
I've also set up a temporary email address called help.lakewood.wa.police at gmail dot com
Email there if you want to be updated periodically on other ways to help. However, I hope the media will become a better source for this information soon. Right now, they're not.
12
@9- I fully agree and I'm very liberal. We know so little at this time that it's ridiculous to craft any conservative or liberal arguments from this.
VERY sad news. And it's not like defusing hatred and craziness in our society is easy to do.
VERY sad news. And it's not like defusing hatred and craziness in our society is easy to do.
14
@13
That's very thoughtful. I never knew a state had its own hoildays. And it's fine if you aren't literate, capitalization is overrated and the silent 'e' is a tricky one.
That's very thoughtful. I never knew a state had its own hoildays. And it's fine if you aren't literate, capitalization is overrated and the silent 'e' is a tricky one.
17
The names and photos of the cops who were murdered were released a couple hours ago.
So has the name and photo and rap sheet of the guy police want to talk to about the incident.
Buy hey, I'm sure you guys are busy cooking up some shitty, snarky posts about some of the actual news reporters in town.
Seattle's Only Newspaper, indeed.
So has the name and photo and rap sheet of the guy police want to talk to about the incident.
Buy hey, I'm sure you guys are busy cooking up some shitty, snarky posts about some of the actual news reporters in town.
Seattle's Only Newspaper, indeed.
18
If I was a black man of average height with a beard, I'd be staying in for the next few days...
Here's hoping they catch this person (or persons) quickly and this is the end of the violence.
Here's hoping they catch this person (or persons) quickly and this is the end of the violence.
21
Forza Coffee (scene of the shootings) is taking donations. Owner is a retired officer.
http://www.forzacoffeecompany.com/
http://www.forzacoffeecompany.com/
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