Suspected shooter, other suspects arrested in slaying of Oakland Police Officer Tuan Le
Oakland Police have arrested several suspects in the fatal shooting last week of Officer Tuan Le, the department announced Tuesday, and sources tell KPIX one of those includes the suspected shooter.
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Le was fatally shot on Dec. 29 after he and other officers were responding to a burglary at a suspected illegal marijuana grow house at Embarcadero and 4th Avenue in Oakland. Le was struck in the back of the head by gunfire while driving an unmarked truck and crashed into two parked cars. He was taken to an area hospital and later died from his injuries.
In a press statement issued at around noon Tuesday, police said one suspect was arrested within the last 10 hours along with "several" other suspects arrested over the weekend.
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"In collaboration with our law enforcement partners, OPD has made significant progress in the investigation, resulting in several additional arrests over the weekend," said the press statement. "This is just the beginning of a lengthy legal process; we are hopeful that it will start the healing for Officer Le's grieving family and our entire OPD family."
Police sources told KPIX the person arrested Tuesday is the individual suspected of pulling the trigger in the shooting. Jail records indicate he is 27-year-old Mark Demetrious Sanders, arrested in Livermore at 12:30 a.m. Tuesday.
Oakland Police credited efforts of the San Francisco Police Department, Livermore Police Department, Vallejo Police Department, Alameda County Sheriff's Office, California Attorney General's Office, California Highway Patrol, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the US Marshals.
Oakland Police Officers Association president Barry Donelan said officers worked tirelessly through the holiday weekend despite their grief to identify and arrest multiple suspects in the case.
We are not going to put up with officers being attacked. We are not going to put up with our officer being shot down doing his duty, he said. We are going to arrest you. We are going to put you behind bars. We are going to bring justice to this family and to every Oakland Police officer who serves.
According to police sources, there are now at least 7 suspects who have been arrested in the case, including one who was arrested on Friday night in San Francisco after a high-speed chase that led to the suspect's vehicle being flipped on its side and two SFPD squad cars smashed.
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On the day of the shooting, officers had initially responded around 1 a.m. to a report of a burglary at what was initially reported to be a dispensary but eventually left the scene. They returned at about 4:30 a.m. for a call of a second burglary at the same location.
Officers saw multiple people leaving the scene and at least one person fired multiple times, striking Le, who was working as a plainclothes officer and driving an unmarked vehicle.
Le's family was informed about the arrests earlier Tuesday.
"Very, very appreciative; very, very emotional," said Donelan. "And they've been very supportive of the police department the whole time, yet they're the ones who have lost their family member."
The four-year veteran of the department is survived by his wife and mother. He is the 54th Oakland Police officer to be killed in the line of duty and the first since 2009.
The Oakland Chinatown Chamber is planning a vigil for Officer Le and his family later this week.
Katie Nielsen contributed to this report.