Sgt. Mark Renninger, who was among the four Lakewood Police officers killed over the weekend at a Parkland coffee shop, was a former member of the Tukwila Police Department.

After leaving military service in 1996, Renninger joined the Tukwila force. He served as a patrol officer and SWAT team member. He was also a former president of Tukwila’s police officers’ guild.

In a press release, the Tukwila department said, “Mark was an outstanding police officer and a well-liked member of the department during his time with us.”

Unlike his three colleagues slain at the same time, Renninger was not an original member of the recently-formed Lakewood Police Department.

He left Tukwila to join the Lakewood department a few months after it formed.

The skills Renninger brought from Tukwila were very valuable to the new department, according to Brian D. Wurts, president of the Lakewood Police Independent Guild.

Writing on the guild’s Web site, Wurts called Sgt. Renninger “the go to guy for everything” and “truly a rock in our department, someone you always counted on.”

Wurts noted, “He was the most competent and tactically proficient man I ever knew in police work.

He simply could take any training situation and make it work no matter what group he was teaching.

“This was the last guy any of us thought would have died like this. There is no doubt in my mind he did not see anything coming.”

Renninger taught the Washington State Tactical Officers Association’s basic course. He was the group’s chief financial officer and a board member. He instructed firearms, chemical munitions and patrol classes.

The former Tukwila guild president “was the savviest negotiator I have ever met,” according to Wurts. Renninger was on the Lakewood guild’s board.

Wurts added, “Mark has three kids and a great wife that the toughest cop I knew softly spoke about.”

In a statement Matt Renninger described his brother as “a loving and devoted father, husband and family member who will be missed by many.”

Renninger, 39, grew up in Pennsylvania before coming to Washington state with the military and then staying here to begin his police career in Tukwila.