By Jakob Rodgers, Harry Harris
Bay Area News Group
OAKLAND, Calif. — An Oakland police officer died Friday after he was shot while on duty near the city’s waterfront, police said.
The officer, who was working undercover, was taken to Highland Hospital, where he died from his wounds.
“It is with a heavy heart that we come together to share the devastating news of the passing of our colleague and friend, who was killed in the line of duty today,” the Oakland Police Department said on social media.
OPD has not said whether a suspect or suspects are in custody or on the loose, but officials are expected to hold a news conference at 1 p.m. No arrests have been announced.
The shooting happened a little before 5 a.m. in the 400 block of Embarcadero near 5th Avenue .
As of 7:45 a.m., there remained a large police presence of Oakland , California Highway Patrol and Alameda County Sheriff’s deputies on Embarcadero . The roadway was closed in both directions from Oak Street to 16th Avenue and multiple on-ramps to Interstate 880 were also shut down.
Police commanders, union representatives and Mayor Sheng Thao gathered at Highland Hospital Friday morning, where the officer was being treated.
Later Friday morning, numerous Oakland police officers — some in uniform, others in plainclothes — were seen entering and leaving the hospital, many of them through the rear ambulance bay. By 11 a.m. the number of officers there appeared to reach more than 75, while dozens of police cruisers lined up along 14th Avenue, where a lane of traffic was closed.
The officer is the 54th Oakland cop killed in the line of duty, dating back to the 1860s. Before Friday, the most recent on-duty deaths happened on March 21, 2009, when four officers — Mark Dunakin, John Hege, Ervin Romans and Daniel Sakai — were fatally shot by Lovelle Mixon .
The officer killed Friday has not been identified. At least one relative, a man who said the injured officer was his nephew, arrived at the hospital alongside two other people and was ushered inside by an officer.
“It’s devastating,” said Sgt. Ramon Jacobo of the Oakland Housing Authority Police Department , who said he arrived at the hospital to show his support for the officer.
“Right now, our thoughts are with this officer and his family,” added Lt. Casey Mooningham, also of the Oakland Housing Authority Police Department.
BART police Deputy Chief Joshua Patzer was visibly emotional outside the hospital and his eye began to well up, before saying, “It’s always sad to lose somebody, let alone a fallen officer. It’s a family — we’re close knit.”
Jeff Ng, an officer with the California Highway Patrol , was on a morning walk with his dog outside of the hospital when he came across the Oakland officers lined up in honor of their fallen colleague. The sight left him in shock.
“You realize it happens, but it’s different when it’s this close to home,” Ng said. “It’s sort of a reminder that it’s very real — we put ourselves in harms way.”
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