Washington - Four police officers were killed Sunday in Washington state when a gunman stormed into the coffee shop where they were sitting and doing paperwork. A manhunt was underway for a "person of interest."
The officers - thee men and one woman - from the local police department in Lakeland, Washington, south of Seattle, were in a coffee shop described as frequented by police officers, the News Tribune in nearby Tacoma reported on its website.
"This was an execution, no doubt," Pierce County Sheriff's Department spokesman Ed Troyer said. "This was a targeted attack."
All four officers were in uniform and died of apparent gunshot wounds despite wearing bulletproof vests. They were apparently doing paperwork before starting their patrol shifts.
Investigators believe two were shot without no warning while seated. A third was shot standing up in reaction to the attack, and the fourth may have struggled with or even wounded the gunman before also being shot.
Coffee shop employees and at least two other patrons were unharmed.
The Pierce County Sheriff's Department named local resident Maurice Clemmons, 37, as a "person of interest" being sought in the case. He was not described as a suspect but authorities warned that he "should be considered armed and extremely dangerous."
Clemmons has a long criminal history including in his home state of Arkansas and is current out on bail for charges in Pierce County of assault on a police officer and rape of a child, the sheriff's department said.
"He is somebody we want to talk to," Troyer said.
