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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
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To: KayEyeDoubleDee
"So unless this guy was doing head shots, or..."

As noted in the original post:

"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."

61 posted on 03/23/2009 10:47:19 AM PDT by Redbob (W.W.J.B.D.: "What Would Jack Bauer Do?")
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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."

AK-47's, SKS, Moisin Nagant, semi auto, bolt action its all AK-47 to ignoramus reporters who are lazy and aren't interested in looking up the facts. It's a commie rifle so it must be an AK-47.
62 posted on 03/23/2009 10:47:40 AM PDT by Old Teufel Hunden
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To: Drew68

SKS in a closet... barrel would be too long...


63 posted on 03/23/2009 10:48:06 AM PDT by MrB (irreconcilable: One of two or more conflicting ideas or beliefs that cannot be brought into harmony.)
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To: KayEyeDoubleDee

I could be misinformed, but I’m not aware of any helmets that would have helped in this situation.


64 posted on 03/23/2009 10:49:01 AM PDT by DuncanWaring (The Lord uses the good ones; the bad ones use the Lord.)
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To: Redbob
Yeah, I noticed that after my first post.

What they are claiming he did should have been just about astronomically unlikely.

65 posted on 03/23/2009 10:49:01 AM PDT by KayEyeDoubleDee
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To: Drew68
So let me see if I have the SWAT tactics right in Oakland, CA. Intel failed but if they knew the perp had an AK-47 they would have called in an air strike?
66 posted on 03/23/2009 10:49:20 AM PDT by mosaicwolf (Strength and Honor)
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To: MrB

Some closets ... Yes ... Some closets ... No.


67 posted on 03/23/2009 10:50:25 AM PDT by DuncanWaring (The Lord uses the good ones; the bad ones use the Lord.)
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To: KayEyeDoubleDee

you are correct. I have an sks and it uses the same ammo, but my .357 Colt kicks alot harder. Living deep in the country, I can say I don’t know anyone without a semi-automatic weapon of some type...not a single person without one!


68 posted on 03/23/2009 10:51:01 AM PDT by sevinufnine (Sevin - "If we do not fight when we know we can win, we'll have to fight when we know we will lose")
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To: DuncanWaring

There are illegally made full auto weapons out there. I seriously doubt this clown had one. But they do exist. Clever people can convert the semi auto ones to full auto.

Back in the early eighties and the seventies, you could mail order parts to convert practically anything into full auto. There are still some of those parts floating around, and there are people with enough skill to duplicate these parts in their garage.


69 posted on 03/23/2009 10:52:04 AM PDT by mamelukesabre
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To: DuncanWaring
Say what?

What the heck good would a helmet be if it couldn't stop a measly little 2000 ft-lb pea-shooter round like this?

I've got shotgun rounds that make half again as much energy as that.

You might as well not even wear a helmet in the first place.

70 posted on 03/23/2009 10:52:34 AM PDT by KayEyeDoubleDee
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To: Old Teufel Hunden

Keep in mind, there was a second party in the apartment who could have become a hostage. The layout of the place also made it impossible to safely evacuate the neighbors. SWAT had spent some time attempting to contact him, without success. So, at least at first blush, this looks like the right call to me.


71 posted on 03/23/2009 10:52:49 AM PDT by ArmstedFragg ("the mass of mankind has not been born with saddles on their backs" - Jefferson)
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To: Oldexpat
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..

Yep! And, of course, they have the usual grieving "posse" of budding gangbanging relatives out to blame the cops for his death


Sharnell Mixon (left), Enjoli Mixon and Tameaka Mikon, relatives of Lovelle Mixon gather to remember and talk about him, Sunday March 22, 2009, in Oakland, Calif. (Lacy Atkins / The Chronicle)

72 posted on 03/23/2009 10:53:41 AM PDT by meandog (The only "Bush" sounding surname worth a damn belongs to NASCAR's Kurt&Kyle Busch--not GEORGE!)
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To: TheConservativeParty
The gun gets a lot of attention, but the person behind the gun,,,not much info.

The template here at least is three days after the perp is killed:

Same day / next day is repeating whatever they're told, resulting in constantly changing and usually contradictory articles.

Second day is trying to resolve the contradictions, playing "gotcha!" with police sources, and armchair quarterbacking and second-guessing.

Third day is sympathetic interviews with momma, baby-momma, and fellow homies: "he was trying to turn his life around", "my baby never hurt nobody before", "the system failed him", "he ran with the wrong people for too long", etc.

That's tomorrow. Bet on it.

73 posted on 03/23/2009 10:53:44 AM PDT by jiggyboy (Ten per cent of poll respondents are either lying or insane)
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To: MrB

walk-in closet?


74 posted on 03/23/2009 10:54:20 AM PDT by Blueflag (Res ipsa loquitur)
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To: B-Chan
I had suspected both victims from the entry team had taken head shots.

Likely, the suspect was crouched down in the closet, with the muzzle pointed in an upwards direction, and he probably just started pulling the trigger when they entered the room, and he got lucky with two head shots. Torso hits might have been survivable, even penetrating the vests...

75 posted on 03/23/2009 10:55:17 AM PDT by dragnet2
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To: KayEyeDoubleDee

That’s what i say about all helmets. Motorcycle helmets, bicycle helmets, construction site hardhats...


76 posted on 03/23/2009 10:55:26 AM PDT by mamelukesabre
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To: Russ

I am curious to see what LEOs here think of the procedures handling this guy. My guess is mistakes were made.


77 posted on 03/23/2009 10:55:40 AM PDT by Names Ash Housewares (Refusing to kneel before the socialist messiah. 1-20-13 Freedom Day.)
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To: MrB

My walkin closet is 12ft X 7ft...and my SKS would be easy to handle in there. Depends on how deep the closet is.


78 posted on 03/23/2009 10:55:57 AM PDT by sevinufnine (Sevin - "If we do not fight when we know we can win, we'll have to fight when we know we will lose")
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To: TheConservativeParty
Still waiting for a MSM story highlighting Lovelle’s record of crimes. The gun gets a lot of attention, but the person behind the gun,,,not much info.

Today's San Francisco Chronicle: Killer of 4 officers wanted to avoid prison

Lovelle Mixon was convicted in 2002 of assault with a deadly weapon after an armed robbery in San Francisco, family members said. He served time in San Francisco County Jail and Corcoran State Prison. He had been released on parole in 2007, then was sent back to prison for nine months in 2008 after he had violated his parole. His attorney in the assault case, Lisa DewBerry, declined comment Sunday.

His family said that while he was behind bars, Mixon married his childhood girlfriend, Amara Langston, and worked briefly as a janitor in Hayward once he got out. He was most recently released from prison in November, his family said.

Then, about three weeks ago, Mixon skipped a home visit from his parole officer, his family said. Mixon's grandmother said he had gotten angry at his parole officer because the agent had missed earlier appointments. Gordon Hinkle, a spokesman for the state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, said the family's assertion that the parole agent had missed a meeting was "highly unlikely," but added that he is researching the matter. He said the department had issued a no-bail, parole revocation warrant for Mixon's arrest after he failed to appear for a meeting with his parole officer.

"We did pick him up previously, (and) he has been looked at as a suspect in other serious crimes," Hinkle said. "He was a suspect in a murder, but due to lack of evidence, on a homicide, he was charged with other violations."


79 posted on 03/23/2009 10:56:55 AM PDT by Bubba Ho-Tep ("More weight!"--Giles Corey)
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To: dragnet2

They might have absorbed any number of torso rounds — maybe even stopped by the vest. We only know the headshots killed ‘em. The vests might have done the job, but sadly if they looked AT/TOWARDS the perp ...

It’s just tragic.


80 posted on 03/23/2009 10:57:51 AM PDT by Blueflag (Res ipsa loquitur)
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