Two men accused of fatally shooting an Oakland officer who answered a burglary call at a marijuana business
OAKLAND, California — Two men were charged Wednesday with murder in the death of an Oakland police officer who was shot while responding to a burglary report at a marijuana business, authorities said.
Charges were filed against Mark Sanders, 27, of Tracy, and Allen Starr Brown, 28, of Chico.
The two were still in custody on Wednesday evening. They were scheduled to be arraigned on Thursday and it was not immediately clear whether they had lawyers who could speak for them.
Officer Tuan Le, 36, was shot in the head on Friday and died in a hospital. He was in plainclothes and driving an unmarked truck when he and other officers responded to a report of a burglary at a suspected illegal cannabis farm near Jack London Square, where another burglary had been reported several hours earlier, authorities said.
The arriving officers said they saw several people leaving the business. Prosecutors allege Sanders opened fire from a car while Brown was in the vehicle.
Officers took their injured colleague to hospital, where he died about four hours later.
Le was the 54th Oakland police officer killed in the line of duty and the first death in nearly 15 years.
Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price and Interim Police Chief Darren Allison announced the men's arrests and charges at a news conference Wednesday evening.
Price said she told Le's wife and mother about the allegations and assured them that her office “will do everything within the limits of our legal power to ensure … that the man who we believe shot and killed Officer Le will serve the rest of his life in prison.”
A third man, Sebron Ray Russell, 30, is accused of participating in the burglary. It was also not immediately clear whether he had legal representation.
Sanders and Russell have criminal records. The two and another man pleaded no contest in 2022 to burglarizing a Pittsburg home where marijuana was being grown and received six-month prison sentences, the East Bay Times reported.
Sanders also pleaded no contest to voluntary manslaughter for a 2014 shooting when he was 17 that left an 18-year-old man dead, the newspaper said.
Brown and Russell were arrested over the weekend and Sanders was arrested in Livermore on Tuesday, authorities said.
At the news conference, authorities said Le's handcuffs were used to arrest Sanders.
Price told Le's family that her office would seek a life sentence without the possibility of parole for the officer's killers.
Meanwhile, police said they continued to pursue other suspects in the burglary.