[Drew68]

Predictable "blame the assault weapon", not the violent felon on parole or the failed culture that produces criminal predators just like him by the millions story of which we'll see a lot of in the near future.

[AD from SpringBay]

Did anybody expect a dangerous criminal who had run from authorities to be dangerous, or was it just the gun that was unexpected?

Prayers for the officers and their families.

[DuncanWaring]

Did he in fact have a full-automatic AK-47, or was it actually a semi-auto “look-alike”?

[Joe 6-pack]

"We've hired maybe 250 new cops in the past five years, so about a quarter of the force has never seen anything like this. No one has."

I'll bet there's a host of Iraq and Afghanistan vets out there who would disagree.

[edcoil]

I thought the tactics of SWAT were to surround, identify the situation, understand what they are facing then, enter.

[GL of Sector 2814]

Predictable "blame the assault weapon"

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.

[bcsco]

I understand Oakland already has an assault weapons ban. That should tell these people something, but likely won’t. Agenda over brains every time.

[grobdriver]

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.

Well, hell - he could have had a .22 and been just as deadly.

[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.

[RichInOC]

Nobody expects an AK-47.

[tet68]

Gee, they were hit in the head, so it didn’t matter
what they were shot with, and the guy was firing blind
from inside a closet?

[Names Ash Housewares]

Here it comes.

This is some scumbag that should have stayed locked up and never been on the streets.

So time to blame the gun and not the criminal and justice industry.

As for not “expecting” a criminal like that to not have weapons illegally like that, please. This was freekin’ Oakland for crying out loud.

[GOP Poet]

very sad. Swat should have been called in it looks like on the third attempt at the apartment. Death penalty!

[4Speed]

so if these unfortunate officers were shot in the head with a 9 mm hand gun . . . they would be OK ??

Both officers were ambushed by a criminal and they were shot in the head. bullet proof vests did not work in this situation. AK47 is not the issue.

[GOP Poet]

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

[Beagle8U]

“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!

[stainlessbanner]

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

Prayers for the officers families.

[Atlas Sneezed]

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.

[Revolting cat!]

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”?

[Old Teufel Hunden]

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.

[KayEyeDoubleDee]

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.