Four Tacoma police die in coffee shop shooting ambush in Washington state
AFP From: AFP November 30, 2009 7:58AM

Unidentified police officers stand outside a coffee shop in Washington, where four police officers were shot and killed by a gunman, November 29, 2009. Picture: Reuters Source: Reuters
FOUR police officers have been gunned down in a US coffee shop in a “flat out ambush”.

Pierce County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Ed Troyer said the officers were sitting in a coffee shop before their shift started when at least one gunman entered and started shooting.

“We have somebody out there who blatantly went in and opened fire on four police officers, killing all four of them,” Mr Troyer said following the shooting near McChord Air Force base in Tacoma, around 35 miles south of Seattle.

Mr Troyer did not disclose any information about the identities of the victims, saying only that the officers had worked in law enforcement in Washington state for their entire careers.

He said authorities believed the men had been specifically targeted, noting that staff and other customers at the coffee shop at the time of the shooting had not been shot at.

“It was definitely an ambush target situation, there were two baristas and some other customers in there. None of them were hurt or shot at or aimed at,” Mr Troyer said.

“It was not a robbery. Gunman came in there and opened fire on the four police officers.”

Mr Troyer said the victims had been going over some paperwork ahead of their shift at the time of the shooting.

“They were getting ready for their shift to start. They had a meeting to go over some paperwork and what they would be working on. That’s standard procedure,” he said.

Seattle Real Estate Tyler Freed