My first reaction was, "where did this guy learn to shoot?" My second was, Was the SWAT team trained well and wearing vests?"
Oakland Police Department Stunned by Day of Loss
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: March 23, 2009
Filed at 5:15 a.m. ET
OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) -- Bouquets of flowers from grieving residents were piled up at a growing memorial in front of the Oakland police department after its worst single day death toll.
Three officers were killed Saturday during separate confrontations with a 26-year-old parolee who relatives said feared returning to jail. A fourth officer was on life support.
''We lose officers about every 57 hours in this country,'' said Chuck Canterbury, president of the national Fraternal Order of Police. ''But seldom do you have one of this magnitude.''
Oakland had never lost even two officers in the line of duty on the same day. Flags at the state capitol were flown at half-staff Sunday. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger returned from Washington, D.C., to meet briefly with Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums and members of the police department.
Police said all four officers were shot Saturday by Lovelle Mixon, 26, of Oakland, a parolee who fled after shooting the first two officers following a traffic stop, then shot two more after a SWAT team entered an apartment in which he was hiding. Mixon was killed by officers, police said.
nytimes.com |
