On the afternoon of March 21, five Oakland PD officers were shot by the same suspect in two related events.

At approximately 1:08, Oakland PD motor officers Sgt. Mark Dunakin (40) and Officer John Hege (41) pulled over a Buick sedan at 74th Ave. and MacArthur Blvd. for a routine traffic stop.  A wanted felon, Lovell Mixon (27), stepped out of the vehicle and opened fire on Hege and Dunakin, striking both.  They were transported to Highland Hospital, where Dunakin succumbed to his injuries.  Hege was listed in critical condition until he was pronounced brain dead on Sunday morning, March 22.

Mixon fled on foot and a short time later, acting on a tip, police surrounded an apartment building on Hillside St. and 74th Ave. – a block from the initial shooting.  Oakland police SWAT team members tried unsuccessfully to communicate with Mixon and at 3 p.m. fired flash grenades into the apartment before entering.  At that point Mixon, who was thought to have been hiding in a closet, opened fire with an assault rifle, fatally wounding Sgt. Ervin Romans (43) and Sgt. Daniel Sakai (35).  A fifth officer was hit with a through-and-through shot to his shoulder and another shot grazed his head.  He was treated at the hospital and released.  Mixon was shot and killed at the scene.

Sgt. Dunakin is survived by his wife Angela, a former Alameda Co. Sheriff’s Deputy, and their three children.