3 California Police Officers Dead, Gunman Killed After Traffic Stop
Sunday , March 22, 2009
AP
OAKLAND, Calif. —

A man wanted for violating his parole killed three veteran police officers and gravely wounded another in two shootings Saturday, the first after a routine traffic stop and the second after a massive manhunt ended in gunfire, authorities said. The gunman was also killed.

"It's in these moments that words are extraordinarily inadequate," said Mayor Ron Dellums at a somber news conference announcing the slayings. It was the first time in the history of the Oakland Police Department that three officers were killed in the line of duty in the same day.

The violence began when two officers on motorcycles stopped a 1995 Buick sedan in east Oakland just after 1 p.m., Oakland police spokesman Jeff Thomason said. The driver opened fire, killing one officer and gravely wounding another.

Click here for photos.

The gunman then fled on foot, police said, leading to an intense manhunt by dozens of Oakland police, California Highway Patrol officers and Alameda County sheriff deputies. Streets were roped off and an entire area of east Oakland closed to traffic.

Around 3:30 p.m. officers got an anonymous tip that the gunman was inside a nearby apartment building. A SWAT team entered an apartment to clear and search it when the gunman opened fire, police said. Two members of the SWAT team were killed and a third was grazed by a bullet, police said.

Officers returned fire, killing 26-year-old Lovelle Mixon of Oakland, Acting Oakland police Chief Howard Jordan said.

The slain officers were identified as Sgt. Mark Dunakin, 40, who was killed at the first shooting. The officers killed at the second location were Sgt. Ervin Romans, 43, and Sgt. Daniel Sakai, 35. Officer John Hege, 41, was in grave condition.

Reached by telephone late Saturday, Hege's father, Dr. John S. Hege said, "He had an injury to his brain ... and it's not clear he can survive. ... It is a stunning thing to face, although we were always aware of the risks."

Hege, a retired physician from neighboring Piedmont, said his son loved being a policeman. He worked well with people and was an Eagle Scout. He played high school football and wrestled. He umpired and coached even as a youth, and joined the Oakland Police Department reserves.

After graduating from St, Mary's College in Moraga, Calif., he taught high school physical education for a few years in nearby Hayward before joining the police department a decade ago.

He recently became a motorcyle traffic patrol officer, Dr. Hege said, adding, "He liked excitement."

As for the slain shooting suspect, the father said, "The man was evidently terribly desperate. It is a sad story..."

Grieving officers at the police station hugged and consoled each other.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said it was a tragic day.

"All four officers dedicated their lives to public safety and selflessly worked to protect the people of Oakland," he said in a statement. "Our thoughts and prayers are with the families of those lost, the Oakland Police Department and law enforcement officers throughout California during this difficult time."

Police said Mixon wielded two different weapons. One gun was used at the first scene and an assault rifle was used at the apartment building where he was hiding.

"(Mixon) was on parole and he had a warrant out for his arrest for violating that parole. And he was on parole for assault with a deadly weapon," said Oakland police Deputy Chief Jeffery Israel.

Police said they did not know why the officers initially stopped the suspect, but said it apparently was a routine traffic stop. Thomason said Mixon had an "extensive criminal history" and was wanted on a no-bail warrant.

People lingered at the scene of the first shooting. About 20 bystanders taunted police.

Tension between police and the community has risen steadily since the fatal shooting of unarmed 22-year-old Oscar Grant by a transit police officer at an Oakland train station on Jan. 1.

That former Bay Area Rapid Transit officer, Johannes Mehserle, has pleaded not guilty to a murder charge. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Monday. Violent protests erupted on the streets of Oakland in the weeks after Grant's death, further inflaming tensions.

Officer deaths are nothing new in Oakland. The memorial wall in the Oakland Police headquarters shows that at least 47 officers died before Saturday. The wall shows the last officer killed in Oakland was in January of 1999.

People left four bouquets of white roses under the granite wall inside the building lobby.

The governor's office said Schwarzenegger would fly to Oakland on Sunday from Washington, D.C., to meet with police and Mayor Dellums to "get a firsthand account of what's happening." Both state Attorney General Jerry Brown and Dellums were at Saturday's news conference.

Click here for more coverage from MyFOXLA.com.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,510037,00.html

Indifferent, its a sad day when this barely even registers a blip on my radar.

I remember being ecstatic when this dropped.  I'm a big Wu~Tang fan, and was more than happy to hear him and ODB together.

From wikipedia:

Biography

Daren Jay (DJ) Ashba was born in Monticello Indiana on the early Friday morning of November 10. At age 1, The Ashba family moved to Fairbury Illinois, a small country farm town where he grew up. His father left him at age 3 leaving his mother to raise him. His mother is an amazing classical pianist, who started teaching Daren about music. He was instantly obsessed with it. Daren started playing piano at age 3 and played his first recital at age 5, where he performed Beethoven’s classical masterpiece “Ode to Joy.” At age 6 he began studying the drums. Daren would set up garbage cans, pots and pans, buckets, and whatever else he could find to resemble a drum kit. He would beat on them for months and months, hours on end. After finally getting a real set, he studied rhythm. At age 8, DJ worked detasseling corn in the fields for one year until he was able to buy his first electric guitar out of the Sears catalog. The Harmony white Flying V was priced at $89.00. As he rode on the bus to the corn fields each day, he sat with a friend he made, an older guitar player from a local band. Daren would take his pocket knife and carve a fret board on the seat in front of them. His buddy would take the knife, poke 3 holes, and say “That's an A chord,” go home and practice that tonight. Everyday Daren looked forward to going to work so he could learn a new chord. Daren grew up in a 8 bedroom house with no TV, due to his religious mother. He would sit in his room and practice his new guitar 17 hours a day. At age 16 Daren went to live with his father in Logansport, Indiana for a year, before moving back to Fairbury. For his 16th birthday his dad took him to his first concert: the Motley Crue - Girls, Girls, Girls Tour. It was the night that changed his life forever. At age 19 DJ packed up all his things in his mini van and drove himself to Hollywood California, where he joined a band called Barracuda. He toured with the band for two years. He then released his first instrumental album "ASHBA: Addiction to the Friction,” and signed his first record deal. Daren went on to win 6 Best Guitar Player Awards. DJ Ashba co-founded the band Beautiful Creatures and landed a deal with Warner Brother Records. He wrote all the music for the Warner release, and songs such as “Ride” landed in the Warner Brothers major motion picture Rollerball. The song “Wasted” landed in the movie "Valentine." In addition, the song “1a.m.” landed in both the TV hit show Smallville and the Howard Stern show. The first concert Beautiful Creatures played was with Kiss on the farewell tour in front of 60,000 people. The band's numerous other tours include Ozzfest 2001, the Rolling Rock tour, a Japanese tour and dates with Marilyn Manson. Beautiful Creatures released the video for “Wasted” on MTV and a full concert for HBO Reverb. National TV hits include the band's appearance with Knoc-Tourn-Al on the Craig Kilborn Show. Two performance highlights that stand out were at the Sundance Film Festival and Mile High Stadium. DJ Ashba is endorsed by over 20 major music companies. He has toured the world, blowing away audiences with his out-of-control stage performances. DJ has appeared in Rolling Stone and numerous other world-wide ads and videos. In 2003 Daren founded Ashba Media, Inc. The creative Agency. Ashba Media was announced the Agency of Record for Virgin Entertainment. AMI designs the look and feel of every Virgin Megastore. They also have other clients, such as Ovation Guitars, Royal Underground and many more....Daren owns 2 corporations, Ashba Media, Inc. which handles the art side of things and Ashbaland, Inc. which handles the music side of things. These days, DJ Ashba has teamed up with Motley Crue bassist Nikki Sixx and James Michael creating the mega-hit band Sixx:A.M. (Sixx, Ashba, Michaels) The album entitled The Heroin Diaries Soundtrack which featuring there #1 hit song “Life Is Beautiful” Daren will be heading out on tour with Sixx:A.M. this summer on Crue Fest 2008 Tour. Daren co- produced / wrote Mötley Crüe’s Saints of Los Angeles album, which is nominated for a Grammy. On the 21st of March 2009 Ashba was appointed the new Guns N' Roses guitarist, replacing Robin Finck.