On March 21, 2009, Sergeant Mark Thomas Dunakin, 40, of the Oakland Police Department was killed during a traffic stop at 74th Avenue and MacArthur Boulevard in Oakland, California. Dunakin and Officer John Hege were conducting a routine stop when the vehicle’s driver opened fire; Sergeant Dunakin died at the scene and Officer Hege was critically wounded.

The shooter, described as a 26-year-old male with a lengthy criminal history who was on parole for assault with a deadly weapon and subject to a no-bail parole warrant, fled on foot. An anonymous tip led officers to an apartment building on 74th Avenue. Negotiations failed and the suspect opened fire on an approaching SWAT team, killing Sergeant Ervin Romans and Sergeant Daniel Sakai and wounding another officer before officers returned fire and killed the shooter.

Sergeant Dunakin had served 18 years with the department and is survived by his wife, an Alameda County Sheriff’s Deputy, and their three children. Does anyone have memories of Sergeant Dunakin or information about that night to share?