2009 shootings of Oakland police officers

On March 21, 2009, at approximately 1:08 p.m., Oakland Police Department Sergeant Mark Dunakin and Officer John Hege conducted a routine traffic stop of Lovelle Mixon near 74th Avenue and MacArthur Boulevard in East Oakland. Mixon, a 26-year-old convicted felon wanted on a no-bail warrant for a parole violation, opened fire with a 9mm semiautomatic pistol without warning, shooting both officers, then exited his vehicle and fired additional shots into them at close range before fleeing on foot. Sergeant Dunakin died at the scene; Officer Hege was mortally wounded and died three days later, on March 24, after being declared brain dead and having his organs donated.

An intensive manhunt involving roughly 200 officers from multiple agencies followed. A local resident identified Mixon's location as his sister's apartment on 74th Avenue, information that was relayed to Lieutenant Christopher Mufarreh, who ordered a SWAT team to the scene. At 3:02 p.m., SWAT officers raided the apartment. In a poorly lit room, Mixon, identified as the assailant who had obtained an SKS carbine, shot and mortally wounded Sergeant Ervin Romans and wounded Sergeant Pat Gonzales in the shoulder. As officers pushed into a bedroom, Mixon shot and mortally wounded Sergeant Daniel Sakai. Gonzales was struck in the head by a bullet deflected by his helmet. Gonzales and Alameda County Sheriff's Deputy Derek Pope then returned fire, killing Mixon at 3:20 p.m.

In total, four Oakland police officers were killed: Sergeant Mark Dunakin, Officer John Hege, Sergeant Ervin Romans, and Sergeant Daniel Sakai. Sergeant Pat Gonzales was wounded but survived. Mixon had an extensive criminal history dating to age 13, including a prior felony conviction for assault with a deadly weapon and armed robbery. Investigators later determined through DNA evidence, reported in May 2009, that Mixon had raped a 12-year-old girl in February 2009 and had robbed and raped two women on the morning of the shootings, hours before the traffic stop.

The shootings prompted significant public reaction in Oakland. A public funeral for the four officers at Oracle Arena on March 27, 2009, drew an estimated 21,000 attendees, including Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, U.S. Senators Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer, and Attorney General Jerry Brown. Separately, a vigil organized by the Uhuru Movement in support of Mixon was held on March 25, attended by approximately 60 people, including members of Mixon's family. Community leaders expressed concern about racial tensions between Oakland's Black community and the police department following the incident, given that Mixon was Black and the officers killed were white or Asian. Memorial designations were later made in the officers' honor, including sections of Interstate 580 named for Sergeant Sakai and for all four officers.