30 November,2009 08:42 AM IST | | Agencies
A gunman burst into a coffeehouse yesterday and opened fire on four police officers as they sat working on their laptops, killing the three men and one woman in what an official described as an 'ambush'.
Pierce County Sheriff's spokesman Ed Troyer said officers were looking for one male suspect who fled the scene and haven't ruled out an accomplice, possibly a getaway driver.
It wasn't clear whether the officers even had time to draw their weapons to return fire. "This was more of an execution. Walk in with the specific mindset to shoot police officers," said Troyer.
He added that the officers from the Lakewood Police Department were catching up on paperwork at the beginning of their shifts when they were attacked.
He said the attack was clearly targeted at the officers, not a robbery gone bad.
"There were marked patrol cars outside and they were all in uniform," Troyer said. He added that Lakewood has a small police force and the deaths represent a loss of 10 percent to 15 per cent of the department.
