4 Police Officers Killed in California

The New York Times reports that at 1.15 pm PST on Saturday, 21st March 2009 4 police officers were gunned down in Oakland, California after a routine traffic stop.

The police said a 27-year-old gunman shot two motorcycle officers after being pulled over at 1:15 p.m. Saturday, killing one and wounding the other. The gunman then fled to a nearby apartment.

A manhunt ensued through the streets of the East Oakland section of the city. When the police tracked down the gunman and burst into the apartment, he shot two more officers with an assault rifle, killing them both, before he was shot dead by the police.

The two officers who were shot at the scene of the traffic stop were identified as Sgt. Mark Dunakin, 40, who was killed, and Officer John Hege, 41. On Sunday, an Oakland police spokesman said that Mr. Hege had been pronounced brain dead but was still on life support pending a decision about organ donation, The Associated Press reported. (Earlier on Sunday the spokesman had said that Mr. Hege had died, but he backed off that statement three hours later.)
The two Special Weapons and Tactics officers who were killed in the apartment were identified as Sgt. Ervin Romans, 43, and Sgt. Dan Sakai, 35.

The police said the gunman was Lovelle Mixon, of Oakland, and said he was on parole for assault with a deadly weapon. They had a warrant out for his arrest.

They did not say why officers pulled over Mr. Mixon to begin with, but said it appeared to be a routine traffic stop.

They said he appeared to be the only suspect.

It has just been reported that the officer on life-support has also died. This is a terrible tragedy, and I think it's at times like this it hits home just how brave the men who risk their lives everyday to enforce the law and protect the innocent are.

They don't always get the respect or support they deserve on either side of the Atlantic, particularly from the government.

Without men and women willing to put their lives on the line, civilisation and society as we know it could not exist.

However, I don't sense that respect in the New York Times article (not that I'm terribly surprised). Having already made the sly, carefully planted suggestion that the police may have had ulterior motives for pulling the suspect (a black man, Lovelle Mixon, pictured above) over, it continues:

There has been tension between police and the community in the months following the fatal shooting of an unarmed 22-year-old, Oscar Grant III, by a Bay Area Rapid Transit officer police officer on New Year’s Day.

Mr. Grant was shot at close range while lying face down on a train platform. He was among several people who had been removed from the train by police officers investigating a fight. The former transit officer accused in the shooting, Johannes Mehserle, has pleaded not guilty to a murder charge.

Violent protests hit the streets in the weeks after Mr. Grant’s death. On Jan. 7, more than 100 people were arrested after protesters marched through the city breaking store windows and setting cars and trashcans on fire.

Oakland’s black community and law enforcement have had a tense relationship for years, including a corruption case known as the Riders case in which a group of police officers were accused of abusing and falsely accusing suspects. Three of the officers were acquitted, but the case nevertheless damaged the department’s reputation.

The Associated Press reported Saturday that people lingered at the scene of the traffic-stop shooting. About 20 bystanders taunted the police.

Ah, well that explains it then. Bit of 'tension'.

Well no, actually to me it does not explain it. A violent thug and wanted criminal is a violent thug and wanted criminal, black or white.

Out of interest, what sort of person stands at a police cordon after the murder of four officers and shouts taunts and abuse?

Nothing can excuse this terrible crime, nor should it. This sort of behaviour is not an acceptable response to any sort of 'tension' or perceived slight, if that is indeed what the piece is implying. It does not even come close to partly explaining it.

I have immense respect for these men and the sacrifice they made. My thoughts and prayers are with the families and colleagues of the officers killed so needlessly.