This has been the worst day in the history of the Oakland Police Department. Four officers have been killed in the line of duty.
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Police: Fourth Oakland police officer has died
45 minutes ago
OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Police say the fourth Oakland police officer shot on Saturday has died at a city hospital.
Oakland police spokesman Jeff Thomason says 41-year-old Officer John Hege died Sunday at Highland Hospital after being gravely wounded during a traffic stop.
Authorities say a 26-year-old parolee opened fire on Hege and 40-year-old Sgt. Mark Dunakin after they pulled him over around 1 p.m. on Saturday, killing Dunakin.
Suspect Lovelle Mixon was slain later that afternoon in a gunfight with police that left two more officers dead. Thomason identified those officers as 43-year-old Sgt. Ervin Romans and 35-year-old Sgt. Daniel Sakai.
Police say the officers' deaths were the most ever in a single day in the department's history.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.
OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — The family of the man labeled the killer of three police officers in Oakland, Calif., is defending the 26-year-old parolee who also was slain.
Authorities in Oakland say suspect Lovelle Mixon was slain in a gunfight with police in which two officers were killed Saturday. Police said another officer was fatally shot earlier in the day and a fourth was gravely wounded after the two of them pulled Mixon over for a traffic stop.
A cousin of Mixon said Sunday that he was "not a monster."
Twenty-eight-year-old LaTasha Mixon of Sacramento also said her family's prayers were with the slain officers' relatives.
California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Sunday ordered flags at the state capitol flown at half-staff in honor of the slain officers.
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