Local police offer help after Lakewood shooting

Published 11:33 pm Sunday, November 29, 2009

Shock and anger set in among local law enforcement veterans as they learned of the killings of four police officers in Pierce County on Sunday morning.

Snohomish County Sheriff John Lovick said he was “saddened and outraged” when he heard about the violence.

“It reminds me and it should remind this community of the risk our officers take every single day to protect the public,” Lovick said. “These officers were trained and sworn to protect their community. It was not just an attack on them; it was an attack on our society.”

Lovick said he offered to help police in Pierce County if need be. “Whatever resources they would like, we will provide.”

Deputies on Sunday received a description of a man sought for questioning and were on high alert. Lovick urged people in Snohomish County to be vigilant as well.

Members of law enforcement throughout the county and beyond echoed Lovick’s sentiment.

Pierce County police said it appeared the slain officers were specifically targeted. It’s difficult to wrap your mind around that, Everett police Sgt. Robert Goetz said.

“Our officers go out there to protect the public. For them to be targeted like they appeared to be this morning is just tragic and senseless,” he said Sunday afternoon.

For Washington State Patrol trooper Keith Leary, the tragedy hit close to home. He worked closely with one of the four slain officers, Ronald Owens, when they were trooper cadets in the Tri Cities in 1998.

Leary described Owens as “an outstanding trooper and police officer” who was thrilled to serve his community.

“Tragic and absolutely unbelievable,” Leary said Sunday evening. “I just don’t have the words… It’s just unbelievable that someone would do something like that.”

Island County Sheriff Mark Brown said he worried about the safety of all police officers.

Brown served in the honor guard during his tenure with the Washington State Patrol. He has seen communities devastated by deaths of their police officers.

“My heart goes out to the families and the (police) chief who had to tell them what happened,” he said. “I think it’s a horrific event that puts us all on notice for the danger of the job.”

Brown was part of the honor guard in 1987 when Island County sheriff’s deputies William Heffernan and John Saxerud were shot and killed by a man they arrested for drunk driving. The killings deeply scarred the people of Island County.

Sunday’s tragedy comes just a month after Seattle police officer Timothy Brenton of Marysville was gunned down as he sat in his patrol car with a trainee. No law officers have died in the line of duty in Snohomish County since 2006, when Eddie Thomas succumbed to a heart ailment during a struggle with a man at a Brier home.

Since 1855, more than 260 officers have died in the line of duty in Washington, according to the Washington State Criminal Justice Training Commission. Sunday’s killings appear to be the worst single incident of police deaths in state history.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with the families of the police officers murdered today in Lakewood,” State Attorney General Rob McKenna said. “This outrageous act of violence against our brave protectors is a direct assault on the safety of our entire community.”

Katya Yefimova: 425-339-3452, kyefimova@heraldnet.com.