‘Life is fragile.’ Community remembers 4 Lakewood officers killed 10 years ago
Martin Knott flew in from out of state to get a cup of coffee Friday and to honor his friends.
The day marked 10 years since Lakewood Sgt. Mark Renninger and police officers Tina Griswold, Gregory Richards and Ronald Owens were fatally shot while getting coffee in Parkland as they prepared for their shifts.
Knott, who retired from the department six years ago, said he’d been on calls with each of them.
“This is something that I had to do,” he said after watching a ceremony to honor the officers. “It is something that has stayed with me. You come in one day, and your coworkers aren’t there.”
Knott was one of about 100 cops, firefighters and others who gathered at the memorial site outside the coffee shop at 11401 Steele St. to remember the officers.
A giant American flag hung from a fire engine ladder nearby.
“We are reminded that there can be a very real price for our service, and we never know when that price may come due,” Lakewood Police Chief Mike Zaro said. “We have our friends and community members that have wrapped us in their collective embrace, shared in our grief, and reminded us that we are cared for, cared about and supported in our service.”
The flags that fly at the memorial were changed during the ceremony, and loved ones read the names of the officers and rang the bell at the site. A moment of silence for each slain officer followed.
Nicole Jones rang the bell for Griswold, her mother.
“She was a very dedicated police officer and a very strong-willed person, and she loved her family, her kids and she loved her job,” Jones, 31, said after the event.
The shooter who killed the officers, Maurice Clemmons, was killed following a manhunt.
The man accused of driving him to and from the coffee shop, Dorcus Dewayne Allen, faces retrial for four counts of first-degree murder next year. Allen, also known by the first name Darcus, was originally sentenced to 420 years in prison. He successfully argued on appeal that there was prosecutorial misconduct during closing arguments in the case.
Zaro noted that two other members of local enforcement also were killed that year: Pierce County sheriff’s deputy Kent Mundell and Seattle police officer Timothy Brenton.
He also told the crowd that this time of year is still one “of appreciation and giving and being thankful,” and he asked everyone to take a moment to appreciate the people in their lives.
“Life is fragile,” he said.
A sign in the window of the coffee shop behind him, which is now Blue Steele Coffee, said baristas planned to donate their Friday tips to the Fallen Officers’ Fund.
The police department and the business have maintained a relationship through the years.
Then-chief Bret Farrar was the first to place an order when the shop reopened about two weeks after the shootings.
The store also is a donation site for the police department’s Fallen Officers Food Drive, which has become an annual tradition.
Zaro said the drive had collected about 165,000 pounds of food and $200,000 for the Emergency Food Network prior to this year, and that this year it has gathered roughly 15,000 pounds and $18,000 so far. For the past few years the department has also hosted a blood drive.
Among those gathered Friday was Tessa Melville, who was 17 when the tragedy happened.
“It was a huge day,” Melville said near the memorial after the ceremony. “I’ll never forget it. I can’t believe it’s been 10 years.”
Melville said her stepfather is a Lakewood officer and that he attended memorial services for Kent police officer Diego Moreno, who was killed in the line of duty last year.
She hadn’t planned on being a police officer in 2009, but about two and a half years ago, she joined the Kent Police Department.
“I can’t imagine doing anything else,” she said.
This story was originally published November 29, 2019 at 11:23 AM.
