TACOMA — A memorial today for four slain Lakewood police officers is expected draw more than 20,000 law enforcement officers and other mourners to the Tacoma Dome, capping a procession of 2,000 emergency services vehicles — including several from the North Olympic Peninsula.
Law enforcement agencies from as far away as New York and British Columbia will join in for the memorial to Sgt. Mark Renninger, 39, and Officers Ronald Owens, 37, Tina Griswold, 40, who was born in Port Angeles and raised in Shelton, and Greg Richards, 42, who were gunned down Nov. 29 in a coffee shop southwest of Tacoma.
Gov. Chris Gregoire will speak at the 3 ½-hour service, which is expected to be the largest ever in the state to honor fallen police officers.
“We want to be there to show that we’re all one family,” said Port Townsend Police Officer Luke Bogues, who will be one of a large contingent from North Olympic Peninsula agencies.
Port Angeles police and Clallam County sheriff’s command staff will attend, as will representatives of Sequim, Forks, Olympic National Park and tribal emergency agencies.
The Washington State Patrol is expected to have a large contingent, including troopers from the North Olympic Peninsula detachment in Port Angeles.
Live television
The Tacoma Dome service, which is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m., will be televised live on Seattle channels 4, 5 and 7.
TV stations KOMO, KING and KIRO also plan to pre-empt regular programming to provide live coverage of the 10-mile procession and related activities beginning at 10 a.m.
The three-hour procession of about 2,000 emergency vehicles, led by the slain officers’ families’ motorcade and cars from the Lakewood Police Department, will leave for the Dome from McChord Air Force Base about 10 a.m.
Two-day manhunt
Maurice Clemmons, 37, was shot to death early Tuesday by a Seattle police officer after a two-day manhunt.
Authorities said Clemmons singled out the officers as he spared employees and other customers at the coffee shop in Parkland, a Tacoma suburb near McChord.
He then fled but not before one of the dying officers shot him in the torso. Prosecutors said several members of a network of family and friends have been arrested for allegedly helping him elude capture.
Several candlelight vigils have been held for the officers since the shooting.
The mayor of Lakewood and the Lakewood police chief are set to speak at the memorial, along with family and friends of the slain officers and Gregoire.
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Associated Press writer Rachel La Corte and Peninsula Daily News reporter Rob Ollikainen contributed to this report.
