Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Doomed SWAT sergeants didn't expect an AK-47
SF Gate ^ | 23 Mar 09 | Phillip Matier, Andrew Ross

Posted on 03/23/2009 10:24:17 AM PDT by Drew68

When Oakland police Sgts. Ervin Romans and Daniel Sakai burst into an apartment on 74th Avenue on Saturday, they knew they were entering a dangerous situation. After all, they were looking for a man who had already killed two police officers.

What they didn't know was that the killer, Lovelle Mixon, had somehow gotten hold of an AK-47 assault rifle, police officials say. All they knew was that the gunman who had shot motorcycle officers Sgt. Mark Dunakin and Officer John Hege about two hours earlier used a handgun.

"Nobody knew he had an AK-47," said City Councilman Ignacio De La Fuente, who was among four council members to join Mayor Ron Dellums and acting Police Chief Howard Jordan for a late-night press conference Saturday.

The bulletproof vests that Romans and Sakai wore were no help - when Mixon fired his automatic rifle through a closet door in the apartment, he hit the two sergeants in the head.

The killings of four officers would devastate any police department. But it was especially traumatic for an Oakland force that has been beefed up in recent years with a lot of young, inexperienced cops.

"We've got a really young force out there, and this is really hitting them hard," officer Bob Valladon, former head of the Oakland Police Officers Association, said Sunday as he drove from one slain officer's home to another to meet with their families. "We've hired maybe 25o new cops in the past five years, so about a quarter of the force has never seen anything like this. No one has.

"These cops (who were killed) were veterans," Valladon said. "The best of the best."

(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...


TOPICS: News/Current Events; US: California
KEYWORDS: banglist; dewberry; dewberrylaw; leo; lisadewberry; lovellemixon; oakland
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-6061-80 ... 181-200 next last
To: TheConservativeParty

Exactly. Lets see the rap sheet.


21 posted on 03/23/2009 10:32:07 AM PDT by BillyBonebrake
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 11 | View Replies]

To: 4Speed

good point.


22 posted on 03/23/2009 10:32:34 AM PDT by GOP Poet
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 19 | View Replies]

To: Drew68

“The bulletproof vests that Romans and Sakai wore were no help - when Mixon fired his automatic rifle through a closet door in the apartment, he hit the two sergeants in the head.”

No, and the bulletproof vests would have been no help if he shot them in the HEAD with a 22 rimfire pistol!


23 posted on 03/23/2009 10:33:12 AM PDT by Beagle8U (Free Republic -- One stop shopping ....... It's the Conservative Super WalMart for news .)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Smokin' Joe

That’s certainly true, but the question remains “Is the story as published accurate?”.


24 posted on 03/23/2009 10:33:41 AM PDT by DuncanWaring (The Lord uses the good ones; the bad ones use the Lord.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 18 | View Replies]

To: Drew68
The MSM is sensationalizing to prepare for AWB2 - Holder's.

Prayers for the officers families.

25 posted on 03/23/2009 10:34:10 AM PDT by stainlessbanner
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Drew68

The bulletproof vests that Romans and Sakai wore were no help - when Mixon fired his automatic rifle through a closet door in the apartment, he hit the two sergeants in the head.


So a pistol would have been just as effective, as would a 22 rifle.


26 posted on 03/23/2009 10:34:26 AM PDT by Atlas Sneezed (Security sucks. I want my freedom back.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Drew68

So we now pick and choose what to trust the MSM with? (The schmuck’s criminal record is listed elsewhere on this site, by the way.) We trust MSM saying that the dead officers “did not expect”?


27 posted on 03/23/2009 10:34:50 AM PDT by Revolting cat! (Let us prey!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Drew68

Maybe some police officers out there could tell me what the correct procedures are, but it seems to me that if you know a guy who just killed two cops is in an apartment you don’t just go charging in. Would you not want to surround him and try to talk him out, knowing he’s armed. If he kills himself, no big loss really. If you choose to go in, would you not try to shoot some CS or tear gas into the room? I mean it just seems that there was a better way to do this than what has been described.


28 posted on 03/23/2009 10:35:58 AM PDT by Old Teufel Hunden
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Revolting cat!

The one thing they should teach all police officers is to EXPECT THE WORST in any given situation because the minute you let your guard down youre dead.


29 posted on 03/23/2009 10:36:09 AM PDT by Ev Reeman
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 27 | View Replies]

To: GL of Sector 2814
Speaking of predictions, I predict a 50% chance that the rifle in question is actually an SKS, which isn't even an "assualt weapon" by the standards of the lapsed AWB.

That's what my money says as well.

30 posted on 03/23/2009 10:36:29 AM PDT by Drew68
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies]

To: DuncanWaring

What makes you think they care if it’s accurate? The story is about assault rifles now. Not criminals or dead cops.


31 posted on 03/23/2009 10:37:05 AM PDT by mamelukesabre
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 24 | View Replies]

To: stainlessbanner

They let violent felons out too soon. Someone who commits and assault with a gun should get some real hard time. He was only 21..so he didn’t serve very long at all.
It is not hard to identify the ones who will repeat..they should never be out on parole.


32 posted on 03/23/2009 10:38:10 AM PDT by Oldexpat
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 25 | View Replies]

To: Drew68

Well, gosh! The pistol he killed cops with was an “AUTO”!

That right there is scary enough to tell a whole story about.


33 posted on 03/23/2009 10:38:33 AM PDT by mamelukesabre
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 30 | View Replies]

To: GL of Sector 2814
The lapsed AWB is at the federal level. The California DOJ will rule according to which ever standard is stricter. It usually is California and the SKS was judged to be a prohibited assault weapon some years back. There was a brouhaha about sks owners having to turn in their SKS. Initially it was judged to be an assault weapon but needed to be registered. New AG comes in now SKS is in prohibited class so turn in in boys.
34 posted on 03/23/2009 10:38:42 AM PDT by Polynikes
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies]

To: GOP Poet
Were the last two SWAT or street cops? I am a bit confused by the title.

I believe all four dead officers were sergeants. The last two killed were SWAT.

35 posted on 03/23/2009 10:38:46 AM PDT by Drew68
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 20 | View Replies]

To: grobdriver

Exactly.

Besides, at point-blank range a 7.62mm slug would cut through those cops’ flak jackets like they were wet toilet paper. A typical, so-called bulletproof vest will stop a .22 slug, most of the time, but up against a high-powered combat round at full muzzle velocity, forget it.


36 posted on 03/23/2009 10:38:51 AM PDT by B-Chan (Catholic. Monarchist. Texan. Any questions?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 10 | View Replies]

To: RichInOC
"Nobody expects an AK-47."

See Post No. 4.

37 posted on 03/23/2009 10:39:12 AM PDT by Redbob (W.W.J.B.D.: "What Would Jack Bauer Do?")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 12 | View Replies]

To: Drew68
Wikipedia says that the AK-47 fires a 7.62x39mm, and lists typical energy ratings in the general vicinity of 1500 ft-lbs at the muzzle [about 125 to 150 grains, at about 2100 to 2300 feet per second]:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/7.62x39mm
In all honesty, that's not a very high-powered round.

Now a Class III vest can stop a 150 grain round at 2750 feet per second:

http://www.bulletproofme.com/NIJ_Test_Rounds_CHART.shtml
So unless this guy was doing head shots, or he nicked a femoral artery in a leg, then I'd say that the Oakland PD "Swat" team skimped on their vest budget.
38 posted on 03/23/2009 10:39:18 AM PDT by KayEyeDoubleDee
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: thefactor

Ping...


39 posted on 03/23/2009 10:39:35 AM PDT by Pharmboy (Democrats lie because they must...)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 29 | View Replies]

To: GOP Poet

I believe they were SWAT cops. The first two that were attacked were street cops or motorcycle patrol.


40 posted on 03/23/2009 10:39:56 AM PDT by smokingfrog ( Dear Mr. Obama - Please make it rain candy! P.S. I like jelly beans.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 20 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-6061-80 ... 181-200 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson