Memorial wall honors officers gunned down in Lakewood

LAKEWOOD, Wash. – It used to be that police officers turned to each other in dark times. But on Monday, exactly one year after four Lakewood officers were gunned down in a coffee shop, they turned to the community for comfort, said Lakewood police Chief Bret Farrar.

At the dedication of a memorial honoring Sgt. Mark Renninger and Officers Tina Griswold, Ronnie Owens and Greg Richards, Farrar struggled to steady the emotions of his officers and himself. “There isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t think of them,” he said of the slain officers. “I miss them every day.”

Washington Gov. Chris Gregoire also spoke during the solemn ceremony near the black granite memorial wall at police headquarters. The gathering of several hundred people included the families of the slain officers.

Shortly before Monday’s ceremony, the families of the four officers visited the Forza Coffee shop in Parkland, where, on Nov. 29, 2009, gunman Maurice Clemmons opened fire.

The families prayed at the coffee shop, arriving for the dedication at police headquarters with eyes red from crying, said Lt. Chris Lawler.

“It was courageous of them” to mark the moment their loved ones died at the coffee shop in Parkland, said Lawler. “

You could just tell it’d been tough and probably emotionally draining.”

The families declined to speak with the media.

The families donated $25,000 that had been given to them to the Emergency Food Network, according to Helen McGovern, the network’s executive director.

In all, nearly $30,000 and thousands of pounds of food were donated through the Fallen Officers Food Drive, which was organized by the Lakewood department to coincide with the dedication of the memorial.