Ayala Shocked By Oakland Police Tragedy

Sonora, CA — "I’m shocked" … those were the words Sonora Area CHP Commander Lt. Mike Ayala expressed when he learned of the four Oakland police officers who were killed Saturday in the line of duty.

A pair of motorcycle officers, 40 year old Mark Dunakin and 41 year old John Hege, were shot and killed by ex-convict Lovelle Mixon after a routine traffic stop on MacAuthur Blvd. Later in the day, with an AK-47 assault weapon in hand, Mixon killed two members of the department’s SWAT (Special Weapons And Tactics) team, 35 year old Daniel Sakai and 43 year old Ervin Romans. Later Mixon was killed by the SWAT team.

Ayala added, "My heart goes out to them. I know what they are dealing with at this point. I can only imagine it losing four officers in one event in one day. At this point they are grieving. They will try as best as they can to work with and help the families. They will try and put their department, their agency back together. There’s going to be some heart to heart conversations internally as any family would and hopefully it won’t spill over to the community."

In his 29 plus years with the CHP Ayala has been involved with 18 shooting investigations.

Written by bill.johnson@mlode.com