Lovelle Mixon, 26, Kills Three Cops Mark Dunakin, Ervin Romans and Daniel Sakai, Fourth Cop John Hege Braindead

Lovelle Mixon, Contributed photo/Oakland Police Department

It is a tragedy of untold proportions that another scumbag has managed to wreak such havoc on our streets. Lovelle Mixon, 26, was fatally shot in a gun battle with SWAT officers in an apartment complex in Oakland, California, yesterday. Mixon's actions come as no surprise. You see, he had an extensive criminal history and was in violation of parole for assault with a deadly weapon. He had prior convictions in Alameda County for grand theft and possession of marijuana, the Oakland Tribune stated. The question I have is why this scumbag was allowed out of prison in the first place.

His family is speaking out.

His relatives told the Oakland Tribune that they could tell his frustration was building inside. After serving the better part of the last decade behind bars, the 26-year-old was free again in November. He planned to do better, family members said, and he wanted to meet the requirements mandated by his second time on parole.

The only problem is he did not know how. "He didn't know really where to start,'' said Mixon's wife Amara Langston, 25. "He was trying to make himself a better person and trying to realize his mistakes and what he was doing was wrong." Mixon tried to abide by the terms of his parole, the family members said, but obstacles continued to block his path. His parole officer stood-him up when they had planned a meeting, family members said. He couldn't find a job. He was depressed.

Just three months after being released from prison, Mixon was on his way back, deciding in February to skip a meeting with his parole officer immediately resulting in a no-bail warrant for his arrest. Mixon was ready to go back to prison, his grandmother Mary Mixon said, if only to get a new parole officer upon his release. Source: Oakland Tribune

According to media reports, the incident started about 1 p.m. Saturday in east Oakland when two motorcycle officers tried to pull over a car for a "fairly routine traffic stop," said Dave Kozicki, the deputy police chief. Emergency call dispatchers then received reports that two officers were shot and needed help, he said. Those officers were John Hege and Sgt. Mark Dunakin, 40, an 18-year veteran of the force, who died Saturday.

Clockwise from top left: John Hege, Sgt. Daniel Sakai,
Sgt. Ervin Romans and Sgt. Mark Dunakin.

On a tip, the SWAT team surrounded an adjacent building where Mixon was reportedly holed up. Those two slain police officers were Sgt. Ervin Romans, 43, and Sgt. Daniel Sakai, 35. Romans had been with the department since 1996; Sakai since 2000. Mixon reportedly committed suicide.

Once again the long arm of justice has failed us. This thug should have been in prison where he belonged. There is no reason why a person with such a long rap sheet should have been released from prison to roam the streets. How was this man able to get his hands on a gun? Seems that the guns laws are too lax. There should be zero-tolerance, especially when dealing with a career criminal as Lovelle Mixon. Yes, society has slammed the door shut on people with criminal records, but where is his sense of personal responsibility in all this? Did he have to knowingly kill three cops, with a fourth brain dead and a fifth injured? That makes absolutely no sense.