- Mark Saunders and Allen Starr Brown are charged with murder in the death of Oakland police officer Tuan Le.
- Officer Tuan Le, 36, was shot in the head while responding to a suspected burglary of an illegal marijuana grow house and died in hospital.
- Mr. Sanders is accused of firing shots from his car with Mr. Brown inside, killing Mr. Lee.
Two men have been charged with murder in the shooting death of an Oakland police officer responding to a robbery call at a marijuana dispensary, authorities said Wednesday.
Those charged are Mark Saunders, 27, of Tracy, and Allen Starr Brown, 28, of Chico.
The two remained jailed Wednesday night. They were scheduled for arraignment Thursday, but it was not immediately clear whether they had attorneys who could speak on their behalf.
California police officer shot and killed during marijuana dispensary robbery; arrested multiple times
Police officer Tuan Le, 36, was shot in the head on Friday and died in hospital. when he and other officers responded to a call of a robbery in progress at a suspected illegal marijuana grow facility near Jack London Square, where another robbery had been reported hours earlier, authorities said. The suspect was said to be wearing plain clothes and driving an unmarked truck.
Oakland police investigate the scene after fatally shooting an armed carjacking suspect at International Boulevard and 105th Street in East Oakland, California, on February 17, 2023. Officer Tuan Le became the 54th Oakland police officer to die in the line of duty. (Jane Tiska/Digital First Media/East Bay Times via Getty Images)
Arriving officers said they saw several people leaving the store. Prosecutors allege Sanders fired shots from his car while Brown was still inside.
The officers rushed their injured colleague to the hospital, but he died about four hours later.
Lee was the 54th Oakland police officer to die in the line of duty, and the first in nearly 15 years.
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Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price and Interim Police Chief Darren Allison announced the men's arrests and charges at a press conference Wednesday night.
Price said he told Lee's wife and mother about the charges and that his office “did everything within its legal authority to ensure that the man who apparently shot and killed Lee will serve the rest of his life.” “I will,” he said. his life in prison. ”
A third suspect, Sebron Ray Russell, 30, is charged with participating in the robbery. It was also not immediately clear whether he had legal representation.
Sanders and Russell have criminal histories. The two men and another man were sentenced to six months in prison in 2022 after pleading no contest to breaking into a Pittsburgh home where marijuana was being grown, the East Bay Times reported. Ta.
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Sanders also pleaded no contest to voluntary manslaughter in the 2014 shooting that killed an 18-year-old man when he was 17, the newspaper reported.
Brown and Russell were arrested over the weekend, and Sanders was arrested in Livermore on Tuesday, authorities said.
At a news conference, authorities said Lee's handcuffs were used to arrest Sanders.
Mr. Price said he had informed Mr. Lee's family that his office would seek a life sentence without parole for the police officer's killer.
Meanwhile, police said they are continuing to track down other suspects in the robbery.
