4 officers shot dead in WA coffee shop

Four uniformed police officers were shot dead in a coffee shop near McChord Air Force Base in Washington State this morning, in what authorities say was not a robbery.

The four officers, three men and a woman, were reportedly working on laptops inside aForza Coffee Company location and preparing to go to work at the time of the deadly incident. A local sheriff’s spokesperson described the shooting:

“This was more of an execution. … As cold-hearted as it is, that’s exactly what happened,” said Pierce County Sheriff’s spokesman Ed Troyer. He didn’t immediately identify the officers, saying officials were waiting to inform their families, but said all for officers were from the Lakewood Police Department.

Authorities described the suspect as a “scruffy” black man in his 20s or 30s who stands between 5’7? and 5’11”. Police cautioned anyone who might be tempted to approach people fitting the suspect’s description:

“We have somebody who has obviously shot four cops- we don’t know what kind of state of mind he’s in and we don’t want anyone else hurt,” Troyer said.

McChord Air Force Base is located in Tacoma, about 35 miles south of Seattle.