AmercianPoliceBeat

May 2009

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22 AMERICAN POLICE BEAT: MAY 2009 Oakland tragedy hits hard Four young cops pay the ultimate price when coward goes out shooting The fl ag-draped casket of a slain Oakland police offi cer is taken into the Oracle Arena on Friday, March 27, 2009 in Oakland, California. Thousands of mourners from across the country and abroad gathered with the families of four slain Oakland police offi cers for a joint funeral that drew thousands of law enforcement personnel from around the world. O n a weekend i n M a r c h , O a k l a n d , C a l i f o r n i a was the scene of the worst tragedy to befall law enforcement in the city's history, and the worst event in over forty years for the state. On Saturday afternoon, March 21, in broad daylight, four Oakland cops were shot and killed in two separate in- cidents by Lovelle Mixon, a parolee who had served time for assault with a deadly weapon and was a suspect in a murder last year but was never charged for the crime. The day before he killed two cops and two sergeants, investigators confi rmed that a state laboratory had DNA evidence linking Mixon to the rape of a young girl several months earlier. The violence began at 1:0 8 P M on MacArthur Boulevard, a busy street in East Oakland. Motorcycle offi cer Sgt. Mark Dunakin stopped Mixon, who was driving a 1995 burgundy Buick, for a possible expired registration. Another motorcycle of- fi cer, Sgt. John Hege, was either with Dunakin at the initial stop or pulled up later. Dunakin requested Mixon's license and ran a check. As he walked back to the Buick, Mixon got out of the car and began shooting at the of- fi cers with a semi-automatic weapon. Both Dunakin and Hege were hit. As they lay on the ground, mortally wounded, Lovelle Mixon stood over them and fi red again. Neither officer had a chance to draw their weap- ons or call on the radio for help. Eyewitness Mary Owens, who runs a martial arts acad- emy near where the offi cers went down, said she was shaking and crying. "I walked over there and stood there, looking at their bodies and the blood. They looked dead to me. Then I saw an offi cer come down the street yelling and run- ning and someone in a red shirt saying, 'He went that way.'" A massive manhunt en- sued. Along with Oakland police, deputies with the Alameda County Sheriff's Office, BART police of- fi cers, and offi cers with the California Highway Patrol combed the area for the sus- pect. Offi cers cordoned off the block where the offi cers were shot. Minutes later the police got a tip that the shooter was hiding in his sister's apartment on 74th Ave- nue, a short distance away. Within minutes, offi cers had blocked off that street and surrounded the apartment building. Led by Sgt. Dan Sakai, SWAT team snipers got into position. A commander told Harry Harris and Sandra Gonzalez of the Oakland Tribune that commanders on the scene were concerned about the safety of the occupants in- side the other apartments and could not fi gure out a way to safely carry out an evacuation. "It was a very tough building to approach and evacuate people," the commander said. At some point offi cers de- cided to make the entry. Sgt. Sakai, Offi cer Erv Romans and four other Oakland of- fi cers forcibly entered the apartment and made their way down a dark hallway. At some point flash-bang devices were thrown into the apartment. Mixon, who police re- ported later was hiding in a closet in a back bedroom, began firing through the door and wall with an AK-47 military assault rifl e. Offi cer Romans was mor- tally wounded in the gun battle. Offi cers braved the heavy gunfi re to remove Erv Romans from the hallway. Just before Mixon was shot and killed, SWAT Sgt. Dan Sakai was shot fatally in the head. Sgt. Pat Gonzales, an- other SWAT team member, was wounded. A bullet ripped through his left shoulder, and an- other ricocheted off his hel- met. He was treated for his injuries and released. Shortly after the shootout began, an Alameda County sheriff's deputy outside the apartment went in with a rifl e and joined the fray. He had just seen offi cers carrying out a wounded comrade, said Harry Stern, an attorney representing of- fi cers in the case. Stern said that during the gunfight, the deputy and three other offi cers closed in on Mixon in a back bed- room, where Mixon was Continued on page 52 AP Photo Circle number 24 on the Reader Service Card. PROTECT AND SERVE WITH PEACE OF MIND. PROTECT AND SERVE WITH PEACE OF MIND. 1202 McGhee Lane, Jacksboro, TN 37757 • phone (866) 517-1113 "THE ELITE" CONCEALABLE CARRIER • Side Opening Design • Six Point Removable Strapping System • Micro-Fiber Carrier • Anti-bacterial Moisture Resistant Ballistic Covering • Extended Shoulder Ballistic Coverage • Breathable Anti-Microbial Mesh Inner Liner • Front and Back Shirt Tails • Front Loading Easy Access Ballistic Enclosure • NIJ Certified Level II or IIIA • Colors Include Black, Navy, Gray, White, Tan, OD Green & Brown

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