Being armed didn’t help police

On Tuesday The Herald published a letter that suggested the recent shootings in Seattle at Cafe Racer likely would have had a different outcome if an armed citizen had been nearby.

I would like to remind the letter writer and Herald readers of the similar shootings in 2009, where an armed man fatally shot four Lakewood police officers in a coffee shop. Law enforcement officers are highly trained and experienced with weapons and their use, second only to the military. They have far more experience and training with weapon use than the average armed member of the public. In the Lakewood shootings, four law enforcement officers armed with service weapons, tasers and mace were unable to stop one armed assailant.

Jeff Rivers

Mountlake Terrace

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