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4th Oakland cop declared brain dead following shootouts that killed 3 other officers, parolee
<!--subtitle--><!--byline-->By Jessie Mangaliman and Mary Anne Ostrom
Mercury News
<!--date-->Posted: 03/22/2009 07:37:19 AM PDT
<!--secondary date-->
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<script language="JavaScript"> if(requestedWidth > 0){ document.getElementById('articleViewerGroup').style.width = requestedWidth + "px"; document.getElementById('articleViewerGroup').style.margin = "0px 0px 10px 10px"; } </script>A fourth Oakland police officer has been declared brain dead following two separate shootouts in which three other officers and a parolee were killed.
John Hege, 41, of Concord, who had been with the department since 1999, was pronounced dead at Highland Hospital shortly before noon today, said Jeff Thomason, a department spokesman. The department later said he was declared brain dead and that his organs would be harvested for donation.
The three other Oakland police officers were pronounced dead Saturday after a traffic stop and, later, as a SWAT team tried to apprehend the man.
The gunman, Lovelle Mixon, 27, of Oakland was fatally shot after police tracked him down to a nearby apartment.
Acting Police Chief Howard Jordan identified the other slain officers as: Sgt. Mark Dunakin, 40, of Tracy, who was killed during the traffic stop; and Sgt. Ervin Romans, 43, of Danville, and Sgt. Daniel Sakai, 35, both killed at the apartment where the gunman was holed up. Dunakin was with the department since 1991, Romans since 1996 and Sakai since 2000.
A fifth officer, whom police did not identify, was grazed by a bullet. He was treated and released from Highland.
The killings were among the deadliest shootings of police officers in California history. They deeply affected Oakland police officers, California Highway Patrol officers and Alameda County sheriff deputies. Many of them were also at Highland on Saturday and this morning,hugging one another and wiping away tears of grief and shock.
"Everyone is pouring out their hearts," said Acting Police Chief Jordan said during a news conference late Saturday.
"We feel a tremendous sense of loss," said Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums.
After the first shooting of two police officers on motorcycles on MacArthur Boulevard, the gunman fled from the scene. Mixon was wanted on a no-bail arrest warrant for violating parole on a previous assault with a deadly weapon
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conviction, police said.A tip led police about two hours later to an apartment one-tenth of a mile away in the 2700 block of 74th Avenue, blocks from a police substation in East Oakland. Heavily armed SWAT team members descended on the apartment building to take the suspect into custody.
Business workers and media responding to reports of the shootout on 74th Avenue described a "Wild West" scene, where cops yelled at pedestrians to get down and take cover behind cars.
Two more police officers were shot dead while trying to take the suspect into custody. Police said the two officers were shot inside the apartment with an assault weapon. A second weapon, which police did not identify, was used to shoot the motorcycle cops.
Traffic officers pulled over the parolee's 1995 Buick at 1:08 p.m. near the Eastmont Town Center. Eight minutes later, a caller reported two officers down in the 7400 block of MacArthur Boulevard.
After hearing gunshots, a barbershop worker nearby said he walked down the block to find the two officers on the ground near each other. He said he attempted CPR until police arrived.
"I went over to one officer and saw he was bleeding from his helmet pretty bad," said the worker, who asked not to be identified. "The other officer was laying motionless."
The officer lying near a car appeared to have two gunshots to his head. One bullet, the worker said, appeared lodged in the jaw, another in the neck.
The incident involving the gunman "is bad because he's a state ward, he's a state parolee, they let him out," said California Attorney General Jerry Brown, a former Oakland mayor. "There are hundreds of shooters walking around the East Bay. Our parole system isn't working.''
Howard said Oakland police investigators believe no suspect other than Mixon was involved in the shootings. He was on parole for a conviction on assault with a deadly weapon.
Tensions have been high between police and many Oakland residents since the shooting death Jan. 1 of Oscar Grant, 22, by a BART police officer at an Oakland transit station. After Grant's death, violent protests erupted in Oakland streets.
By Saturday night, a dozen pastors were calling for calm in the city.
At the lobby of the police administration building, four bunches of white roses were placed at the bottom of a memorial that lists the names of 47 Oakland police officers who have been killed in the line of duty since 1867. The last on the list was an Oakland police officer killed in January 1999.
<!--subtitle--><!--byline-->By Jessie Mangaliman and Mary Anne Ostrom
Mercury News
<!--date-->Posted: 03/22/2009 07:37:19 AM PDT
<!--secondary date-->
<script language="JavaScript">if(requestedWidth < 200){ requestedWidth = 200; } </script>
<script language="JavaScript"> if(requestedWidth > 0){ document.getElementById('articleViewerGroup').style.width = requestedWidth + "px"; document.getElementById('articleViewerGroup').style.margin = "0px 0px 10px 10px"; } </script>A fourth Oakland police officer has been declared brain dead following two separate shootouts in which three other officers and a parolee were killed.
John Hege, 41, of Concord, who had been with the department since 1999, was pronounced dead at Highland Hospital shortly before noon today, said Jeff Thomason, a department spokesman. The department later said he was declared brain dead and that his organs would be harvested for donation.
The three other Oakland police officers were pronounced dead Saturday after a traffic stop and, later, as a SWAT team tried to apprehend the man.
The gunman, Lovelle Mixon, 27, of Oakland was fatally shot after police tracked him down to a nearby apartment.
Acting Police Chief Howard Jordan identified the other slain officers as: Sgt. Mark Dunakin, 40, of Tracy, who was killed during the traffic stop; and Sgt. Ervin Romans, 43, of Danville, and Sgt. Daniel Sakai, 35, both killed at the apartment where the gunman was holed up. Dunakin was with the department since 1991, Romans since 1996 and Sakai since 2000.
A fifth officer, whom police did not identify, was grazed by a bullet. He was treated and released from Highland.
The killings were among the deadliest shootings of police officers in California history. They deeply affected Oakland police officers, California Highway Patrol officers and Alameda County sheriff deputies. Many of them were also at Highland on Saturday and this morning,hugging one another and wiping away tears of grief and shock.
"Everyone is pouring out their hearts," said Acting Police Chief Jordan said during a news conference late Saturday.
"We feel a tremendous sense of loss," said Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums.
After the first shooting of two police officers on motorcycles on MacArthur Boulevard, the gunman fled from the scene. Mixon was wanted on a no-bail arrest warrant for violating parole on a previous assault with a deadly weapon
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conviction, police said.A tip led police about two hours later to an apartment one-tenth of a mile away in the 2700 block of 74th Avenue, blocks from a police substation in East Oakland. Heavily armed SWAT team members descended on the apartment building to take the suspect into custody.
Business workers and media responding to reports of the shootout on 74th Avenue described a "Wild West" scene, where cops yelled at pedestrians to get down and take cover behind cars.
Two more police officers were shot dead while trying to take the suspect into custody. Police said the two officers were shot inside the apartment with an assault weapon. A second weapon, which police did not identify, was used to shoot the motorcycle cops.
Traffic officers pulled over the parolee's 1995 Buick at 1:08 p.m. near the Eastmont Town Center. Eight minutes later, a caller reported two officers down in the 7400 block of MacArthur Boulevard.
After hearing gunshots, a barbershop worker nearby said he walked down the block to find the two officers on the ground near each other. He said he attempted CPR until police arrived.
"I went over to one officer and saw he was bleeding from his helmet pretty bad," said the worker, who asked not to be identified. "The other officer was laying motionless."
The officer lying near a car appeared to have two gunshots to his head. One bullet, the worker said, appeared lodged in the jaw, another in the neck.
The incident involving the gunman "is bad because he's a state ward, he's a state parolee, they let him out," said California Attorney General Jerry Brown, a former Oakland mayor. "There are hundreds of shooters walking around the East Bay. Our parole system isn't working.''
Howard said Oakland police investigators believe no suspect other than Mixon was involved in the shootings. He was on parole for a conviction on assault with a deadly weapon.
Tensions have been high between police and many Oakland residents since the shooting death Jan. 1 of Oscar Grant, 22, by a BART police officer at an Oakland transit station. After Grant's death, violent protests erupted in Oakland streets.
By Saturday night, a dozen pastors were calling for calm in the city.
At the lobby of the police administration building, four bunches of white roses were placed at the bottom of a memorial that lists the names of 47 Oakland police officers who have been killed in the line of duty since 1867. The last on the list was an Oakland police officer killed in January 1999.
