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Originally published December 5, 2009 at 12:13 AM | Page modified December 5, 2009 at 6:03 PM

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Officer Richards' wife knew he would do his duty, no matter what

Wife, colleagues remember the day Lakewood Police Officer Greg Richards died.

Seattle Times staff reporter

Coverage from the days following the Lakewood shootings

Tuesday memorial to four officers comes together swiftly

Lakewood Officer Tina Griswold was a 'ball of fire' in a tiny package

A path to murder: The story of Maurice Clemmons

Gallery | Maurice Clemmons: Path to Murder

Officer Gregory Richards was 'the golden boy'

Officer Richards' wife knew he would do his duty, no matter what

Lakewood Police Officer Ronald Owens was always smiling

Prosecutors want Clemmons' sister held in custody

Clemmons' sister taken into custody in courtroom

Clemmons repeatedly slipped through the cracks

Bank accounts may be sign Clemmons planned getaway

Lakewood Police Sgt. Mark Renninger was devoted to family, dedicated to police work

Bail-bond agents gamble on unknown

Clemmons' sister arrested during court hearing

Repeat offenders would be denied bail under measure

Nicole Brodeur | Help is coming for aunt

Clemmons traveled to meet New York minister, citing God's instructions

Clemmons' half-brother charged with helping killer elude police

Clemmons investigated by drug enforcement authorities after he moved here in 2004

More than 20,000 people expected at Tuesday's memorial for officers

Arkansas governor and Washington Gov. Chris Gregoire confer on parolees, Clemmons

Coffee shop where officers killed remains closed

Details on Tuesday memorial for four slain officers

Trusted aunt chose to do the 'right thing'

Clemmons' driver denies knowledge of plot to kill

Over 2,000 attend Lakewood vigil for 4 slain officers

Graham neighborhood embraces grieving family

Alleged accomplice used an alias

Coffee shop where officers killed remains closed

Who leaked photo of Clemmons' body? Investigations launched

Clemmons couldn't be held after 'safety net' dissolved

Calendar of memorials and vigils for slain Lakewood officers

Loyal friends, family helped Clemmons flee police

Gregoire: no more Arkansas parolees

Alleged getaway driver in officers' slaying could face murder charges

Uncle: 'He was all about money ... suddenly, he was all about God'

Routine stolen-car check led to Lakewood police-slaying suspect

Danny Westneat | Fixing blame won't fix this mess

Jerry Large | Answers more than skin deep

Public brings flowers, candles, prayers for fallen officers

E-mails show Washington state battled to keep Clemmons in custody

States at odds over warrant that might have kept Clemmons in jail

2 men charged, several others suspected of aiding alleged cop killer

Lakewood police shooting suspect shot dead by police in South Seattle early this morning

Memorial for slain officers to be next Tuesday at Tacoma Dome

Outpouring of support for families of slain officers grows

Four days in May set stage for Sunday's tragedy

Clemmons' diagnosis: stress

Persuasive appeal helped Clemmons win clemency

Political death blow for Huckabee?

How you can help

Law-enforcement officials believe Clemmons has been sheltered by family, friends

Attack on Lakewood police likely worst in state history

Slain Lakewood officers leave holes in community fabric

Furious hunt for suspect in Lakewood police slayings creates unease for black men

Grief, gratitude for slain officers

'Boom. Boom. Boom. Boom': Neighbors describe shooting of suspect

Nicole Brodeur: Breathless in Leschi — and it's not the view

RAW VIDEO: Scene where Clemmons shot by police

AUDIO | Suspect killed in Seattle

Interactive map and timeline

See the latest tweets on #WAshooting, #lakeshoot and #WAshoot

Gallery | Maurice Clemmons Killed, Community Mourns Slain Officers

Gallery | Ceda Clemmons' Damaged Home

Monday coverage

Suspect released in Arkansas after claiming he had changed

Gallery | Police search for suspected cop killer

Gallery | Lakewood police officers killed

Video | Community reflects on slain police

Video | Police shooting: Man who helped baristas

Video | SPD Det. Jeff Kappel speaks about 11-hour standoff

Brenton family statement on slain Lakewood officers

Latest on Lakewood shooting: Police searching near Dr. José Rizal Park

Police still searching for suspected cop killer

Sunday coverage

Police union sets up fund for slain officers

Former Arkansas Gov. Huckabee has controversial record of freeing criminals

Lakewood Police Department created just 5 years ago

Police again see themselves as targets

Slain officers respected for careers, family life

Lakewood police slayings appear to be worst of their kind in state history

Shocked, grieving community holds vigil for officers

Coffee house owner: Shootings 'hit close to home'

Maurice Clemmons clemency and parole documents (PDF)

Statement from Mayor Douglas Richardson and City Manager Andrew Neiditz (PDF)

City of Lakewood identifies officers (PDF)

Related links

Law justifying use of deadly force

Facebook page honoring fallen officers

NewsTribune.com | Eyewitness accounts

Video | Pierce County sheriff's spokesman Ed Troyer discusses Lakewood slaying

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GRAHAM, Pierce County — It was the moment every police officer's family knows can come, and hopes never does. For Kelly Richards, it came Sunday.

Her husband, Officer Greg Richards of the Lakewood Police Department, had gotten up in the dark to begin his morning shift and was out of the house by the time she got up.

She wanted to watch something on TV that morning — and switched it on.

"The first thing I see is four officers from Lakewood shot at the Forza Coffee shop. He had just driven by there a few days ago and said, 'That is where we have coffee,' " Richards said.

"I was hoping still. But what are you hoping, for someone else's wife or husband to be dead?

"I called everybody who might know. I called 911, my brother-in-law Steve who is a Tacoma police officer. I got in the car and headed to Lakewood. Then I got a call from Steve," she said.

"You need to go home," he told her. So she did.

"And I waited."

Before long, an assistant chief for the department arrived at her door.

"I knew. I feared it, I couldn't think about it. This was the job he loved, and the friends he loved, this paid the bills," she said. "I put it in the back of my mind all the time, said it won't happen."

She had told her husband what she wanted if he ever found himself cornered.

"I had always told him, come home to us, get out, find a way out, if you can't shoot and kill him," Richards said. But she said she knew, like his colleagues, he would do his duty, no matter what.

It was Greg Richards, 42, who got off the shot that wounded the killer, Maurice Clemmons.

As the manhunt went on, Kelly Richards said she thought, "Let him die from his wound, let him die from my husband's shots. He would have been so proud if he could have killed that guy."

And she thought this, of the man who killed the father of their three children: "I want him to suffer. Like we are suffering."

Lakewood Officer Chris Sorrells was the first to respond to the scene.

"I saw Greg in the doorway face up, but I didn't know it was him," said Sorrells, who didn't recognize him.

"I had to look at his name tag to figure out who he was," Sorrells said. "And then I just kind of froze."

Friends since they started in the department in 2004, Richards was the drummer in the rock band they played in together. "I said, 'I don't want to be here.' "

They had trained in the academy to protect themselves, Sorrells said.

"But someone walking into a coffee shop, you are minding your own business, that is just not something you could prepare for," Sorrells said. "Unless you want to be a robot, and not trust anyone. What kind of person would you be?

"They were not doing police work, not doing a traffic stop. The only reason they are dead is they were wearing a uniform."

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