About Fallen Heroes

March 21, 2009 was one of the darkest days in the history of The Oakland Police Department. Sergeants Mark Dunakin, Ervin Romans, Daniel Sakai and Officer John Hege were all shot by a sole gunman at two different locations. The incident unfolded when the suspect was pulled over for a moving violation. As the officers approached the vehicle for the second time, upon doing a license check the assailant shot both officers. Sergeant Dunakin died instantly while Officer Hege died three days later. About 2 hours after the first incident, the suspect was found in his sister’s apartment located several blocks away. The Oakland Police Department SWAT Team was ordered into the building to do an initial sweep of the ground floor before sending in a tracking dog. As the SWAT Team entered the building, the assailant shot and killed Sergeants Romans and Sakai before being killed in a barrage of bullets.