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Gunman Kills Three Oakland, Calif. Officers, Wounds Fourth
By TERRY COLLINS and LISA LEFF
Associated Press Writers
OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) -- A police officer was battling for his life and three more were dead after a parolee with an "extensive criminal history" opened fire at a routine traffic stop and hours later gunned down members of a SWAT team searching for him.
The gunman was also killed Saturday, capping a day of violence that the Oakland Police Department said was the worst in its history. Never before had three police officers died in the line of duty on the same day.
"It's in these moments that words are extraordinarily inadequate," said Mayor Ron Dellums at a somber news conference Saturday night.
The mayhem began that afternoon, when two motorcycle patrol officers stopped a 1995 Buick sedan in east Oakland, Oakland police spokesman Jeff Thomason said. The driver opened fire, killing Sgt. Mark Dunakin, 40, and gravely wounding Officer John Hege, 41.
The gunman then fled on foot, police said, leading to an intense manhunt by dozens of Oakland police, California Highway Patrol officers and Alameda County sheriff deputies. Streets were roped off and an entire area of east Oakland closed to traffic.
About two hours later, officers got an anonymous tip that the gunman was inside a nearby apartment building.
A SWAT team had entered an apartment to clear and search it when the gunman shot them with an assault rifle, police said.
Sgt. Ervin Romans, 43, and Sgt. Daniel Sakai, 35, were killed and a third officer was grazed by a bullet, police said.
SWAT team members returned fire, killing 26-year-old Lovelle Mixon of Oakland, Acting Oakland police Chief Howard Jordan said.
Officer Hege suffered brain damage and may not survive, his father, Dr. John S. Hege, said late Saturday.
"It is a stunning thing to face," he said.
Grieving officers at the police station hugged and consoled each other. People left four bouquets of white roses under a granite memorial wall inside the building lobby that lists 47 officers killed in the line of duty. The wall shows the last officer killed in Oakland was in January of 1999.
Police said Mixon wielded two different weapons. One gun was used at the first scene and an assault rifle was used at the apartment building where he was hiding.
Jordan said Mixon had an "extensive criminal history" and was wanted on a no-bail warrant.
"(Mixon) was on parole and he had a warrant out for his arrest for violating that parole. And he was on parole for assault with a deadly weapon," said Oakland police Deputy Chief Jeffery Israel.
Police said they did not know exactly why the officers initially stopped the suspect, but said it apparently was a routine traffic stop.
People lingered at the scene of the first shooting. About 20 bystanders taunted police.
Tension between police and the community has risen steadily since the fatal shooting of unarmed 22-year-old Oscar Grant by a transit police officer at an Oakland train station on Jan. 1.
That former Bay Area Rapid Transit officer, Johannes Mehserle, has pleaded not guilty to a murder charge. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Monday. Violent protests erupted on the streets of Oakland in the weeks after Grant's death, further inflaming tensions.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger planned to fly to Oakland on Sunday from Washington, D.C., to meet with police and Mayor Dellums, the govenor's office said.
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Associated Press writer Tim Reiterman contributed to this report.
Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Associated Press Writers
OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) -- A police officer was battling for his life and three more were dead after a parolee with an "extensive criminal history" opened fire at a routine traffic stop and hours later gunned down members of a SWAT team searching for him.
This is an undated photo combo of images released by the Oakland Police Department of Oakland Police officers from left: Sgt. Mark Dunakin, Officer John Hege, Sgt. Daniel Sakai and Sgt. Ervin Romans. A man wanted for violating his parole killed three police officers and gravely wounded Hege during the in two shootings Saturday, March 21, 2009. (AP Photo/Oakland Police Department)
Unidentified law enforcement officials embrace outside the emergency entrance to Highland Hospital in Oakland, Calif., Saturday, March 21, 2009 after four Oakland police officers were shot by a suspect who was pulled over for a traffic stop. (AP Photo/D. Ross Cameron)
The gunman was also killed Saturday, capping a day of violence that the Oakland Police Department said was the worst in its history. Never before had three police officers died in the line of duty on the same day.
"It's in these moments that words are extraordinarily inadequate," said Mayor Ron Dellums at a somber news conference Saturday night.
The mayhem began that afternoon, when two motorcycle patrol officers stopped a 1995 Buick sedan in east Oakland, Oakland police spokesman Jeff Thomason said. The driver opened fire, killing Sgt. Mark Dunakin, 40, and gravely wounding Officer John Hege, 41.
The gunman then fled on foot, police said, leading to an intense manhunt by dozens of Oakland police, California Highway Patrol officers and Alameda County sheriff deputies. Streets were roped off and an entire area of east Oakland closed to traffic.
About two hours later, officers got an anonymous tip that the gunman was inside a nearby apartment building.
A SWAT team had entered an apartment to clear and search it when the gunman shot them with an assault rifle, police said.
Sgt. Ervin Romans, 43, and Sgt. Daniel Sakai, 35, were killed and a third officer was grazed by a bullet, police said.
SWAT team members returned fire, killing 26-year-old Lovelle Mixon of Oakland, Acting Oakland police Chief Howard Jordan said.
Officer Hege suffered brain damage and may not survive, his father, Dr. John S. Hege, said late Saturday.
"It is a stunning thing to face," he said.
Grieving officers at the police station hugged and consoled each other. People left four bouquets of white roses under a granite memorial wall inside the building lobby that lists 47 officers killed in the line of duty. The wall shows the last officer killed in Oakland was in January of 1999.
Police said Mixon wielded two different weapons. One gun was used at the first scene and an assault rifle was used at the apartment building where he was hiding.
Jordan said Mixon had an "extensive criminal history" and was wanted on a no-bail warrant.
"(Mixon) was on parole and he had a warrant out for his arrest for violating that parole. And he was on parole for assault with a deadly weapon," said Oakland police Deputy Chief Jeffery Israel.
Police said they did not know exactly why the officers initially stopped the suspect, but said it apparently was a routine traffic stop.
People lingered at the scene of the first shooting. About 20 bystanders taunted police.
Tension between police and the community has risen steadily since the fatal shooting of unarmed 22-year-old Oscar Grant by a transit police officer at an Oakland train station on Jan. 1.
That former Bay Area Rapid Transit officer, Johannes Mehserle, has pleaded not guilty to a murder charge. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Monday. Violent protests erupted on the streets of Oakland in the weeks after Grant's death, further inflaming tensions.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger planned to fly to Oakland on Sunday from Washington, D.C., to meet with police and Mayor Dellums, the govenor's office said.
___
Associated Press writer Tim Reiterman contributed to this report.
Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Alan on
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Our thoughts and prayers go out to the family members of the officers and to their fellow brothers in blue in Calif.
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Permalink Reply by miguel antonio coronado ramos on
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prayer to the family and all familys that will suffer from this tragetty god bless all firefither and police mans of the word
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Permalink Reply by Tony Bearden on
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Our thoughts and prayers are with the families and friends of the fallen police officers. We are all brothers and sisters in public safety and feel deeply saddened at this time. May God Bless them all. R.I.P brothers.
Chief Tony Bearden
Aroney, Al
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Permalink Reply by John on
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My prayers go out to the officers family and friends what a tradgedy, Rest in Peace.
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Permalink Reply by Tony Trevino on
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Our thoughts and prayers go out to the entire families and Oakland P.D.
Capt. Tony Trevino
City Of Mission, TX.
Fire Department
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Permalink Reply by Adrianna DeHoyos on
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As a police officer myself, I know the danger that exists every day for myself and my brothers and sisters in blue....you just never know when it might happen to you....i have lost too many friends and partners....sad....My prayers go out to the families of these fallen officers....May you find the peace you need in your hearts to keep going.
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Permalink Reply by Clayton Juhl on
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My father is a policeman and I couldn't imagine losing him in the line of duty, so my thoughts and prayers go out to the families of those who have lost their lives in this tragic incident. I also know how a bond is formed especially in jobs like these, these men were brothers to there other department members so my prayers go out to them as well during this time also. God Bless you all.
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Permalink Reply by D.C. Sterbenz on
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I pray for the families of those fallen officers. It is a tragedy what those officers go up against every day in Oakland.
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Permalink Reply by Bill Fletcher on
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My thoughts and prayer`s go out to the family of the fallen hero`s , Who gave thier all.
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Permalink Reply by Lori V. on
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This has been a horrible time for our fallen brothers' families and for the Law Enforcement Officers(LEO'S) and their families in the surrounding communities.The city of Oakland runs into San Francisco to the west, San Leandro to the south,which ruins into Hayward which runs into Fremont and so on and so on....eventually touching one way or another most of Northern Cal ♦All of us here are still trying to comprehend everything. The worst part about this is what you don't see or hear in the news...while (Sgt) Mark Dunakin and John Hege (Patrolman) were lying ,Mark; dead and John critically wounded,the crowd that had gathered, were actually TAUNTING and some of them SPITTING on them while they lie dead and dying at the scene.....They actually taunted them with words like, "you got what you deserved".."see what happens"...are you kidding me??..WTF? Then ,to add insult to injury..the family of the Bast*rd (Mr.Mixon)that shot our officers , says that the parole system failed their loved one...and because he had served 4 yrs. previous for "strong-armed" robbery(for $30 dollars) with a weapon (and suspected murder,although they did not have enough evidence to prosecute the murder charge)and Mr. Mixon was jailed a second time for ..gee...parole violation..... they claim that he was depressed that he could not find work and that his Parole Officer failed to "follow-up when he missed his scheduled meeting, that the system failed him.... Well..kiss my a**these fine men all had families and children.....what do you tell them?So..as I kiss my Police Detective Husband, good-bye every morning before he leaves for work..please remember to keep us ALLin your prayers...as we pray for you .....sorry about the ranting and raving but I needed to tell you all what is really going on here
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Those "Volunteer " cops as you put it... are called "Reserve Officers" and despite what you may think...their are plenty of them; ALL OVER the country. When I was a teenager living in Buffalo New York, the "wonderful" tenets of the housing projects, purposefully set fire to several apts in the" Talbert Mall Projects". When the Fireman arrived,(my Father,Uncle and several cousins)the friendly inhabitants of the housing projects, open fired on the Firefighters....just for fun. However; several tenets were being burned out of there homes,simultaneously. Who do you think came in to protect the Fireman? Oh..that's right..the local P.D. As the daughter,granddaughter,niece,cousin and friend of MANY...MANY Firefighters and the wife of a Police Detective,I take great exception to your statement,"Firefighters very seldom break into a house and assault and kill the inhabitants.... I have yet to meet the Cop that loved "breaking into a home,assaulting and killing someone...for fun". Whether you realize it or not,you are implying that Cops enjoy injuring and killing people. While every cop in the country is not 100% forthright and upstanding...neither is anyone from any other profession. I have been a nurse for more than 25 yrs and have seen some really nurses in my time and I have read several articles about and have personal knowledge of rouge Firemen setting fires(granted most of them are Volunteer)I can guarantee you, that when you arrive on scene and some crazy person may be shooting randomly or a gang has set fire to a building to cover a crime,..you will not enter the scene until the Cops arrive and secures it. So yes..you do have a lot in common...saving lives, protecting the public and putting your lives on the line every day.
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Permalink Reply by Amanda Woomer on
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My prayers go out to all the famil members and those who know them.
I thank them for the greatest sacrafice...
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