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Finding peace: Lakewood still healing 10 years after police shooting

Pierce County's second-largest city is thriving, but it will forever be scarred by what happened 10 years ago.

LAKEWOOD, Wash. — Ten years after four Lakewood police officers were gunned down in a coffee shop, the community is still healing.

On November 29, 2009, a man with a grudge against law enforcement walked into Forza Coffee in Lakewood and shot four officers getting ready for their shift. Sergeant Mark Renninger and Officers Greg Richards, Tina Griswold, and Ronald Owens were killed.

Lakewood Police Lieutenant Jeff Alwine was the first Lakewood officer on the scene. He said he knew the officers well, working with them since the day they started.

“I felt like it wasn’t real,” Alwine said. “It was not until after I walked out and realized I needed to make some phone calls to the chief and to the assistant chief. I knew that I needed to activate things and get people moving because we were in a horrific, tragic event that was going to require a ton of support.”

For Lakewood Police Chief Mike Zaro, who was assistant chief at the time of the shooting, the weeks and months that followed were a complete fog.

“There was no road map to it,” Zaro said. “And we didn't know, we couldn't say, ‘We just had four officers killed. Here's our next steps. Here's A, B, C, and D.’ Because nobody had gone through that before."

Credit: Lakewood Police Department
Officer Greg Richards (from left), Sergeant Mark Renninger, Officer Tina Griswold, and Officer Ronald Owens were killed in a shooting at Forza Coffee in Lakewood on Nov. 29, 2009.

After the shooting, Alwine struggled with feelings of anger and fear. It took until the one-year anniversary of the shooting to seek professional help. Counseling became part of the job and is still routine maintenance, as he calls it, to keep his mind in check.

“I don’t know that I have truly gotten over it, but every day, every year that goes by, it gets a little easier,” Alwine said.

Forza Coffee has since been renamed Blue Steele, and its wall pay tribute to the officers killed that day.

Every year near the anniversary the department holds its fallen officer food drive, and every year the community responds.

"There are some people that just haven't healed yet or haven't completely come to terms with it,” Zaro said. “There are some people that that is very much still at the forefront of their motivation to come to work."

For those involved in this tragedy, life will never be the same. For them, it’s about finding peace.

“I used to not be able to drive by the coffee shop at all,” Alwine said. “I would always avoid going that direction. I can drive by it now. I don’t stop. No. I’ve never been back. I don’t need to.”

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