Cop Killer in Oakland California kills 4

UNITED STATES - Four police officers were shot dead and a fifth is now brain dead and on life support in the northern California city of Oakland, marking the deadliest day in the department's history.

The shootings started Saturday after a routine traffic stop. Two officers on motorcycle patrol were shot by a man wanted for violating his parole (The gunman was 'on parole for assault with a deadly weapon'). The gunman then fled the scene.

The suspect was later killed by police during an intense manhunt by dozens of Oakland police, California Highway Patrol officers and Alameda County sheriff deputies. Streets were roped off and an entire area of east Oakland was closed to traffic so they could corner the gunman.

At approx. 3:30 pm, officers received an anonymous tip that the gunman was inside a nearby apartment building. A SWAT team entered the building and the gunman opened fire. Two more police SWAT officers were killed and a third officer was grazed by a bullet.

Officers returned fire, killing the suspect.

One witness, said he heard gunshots outside, where he saw two SWAT officers lying on the ground. "I went over to one officer and saw he was bleeding from his helmet pretty bad," he said. "The other officer was laying motionless." He said one officer had gunshot wounds to the jaw and neck.

The man proceeded to administer first aid to the officer until police arrived.

Another wounded officer was treated and released from hospital on Saturday night.

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger called the officers' deaths "tragic", and ordered state flags to be flown at half-mast. Schwarzenegger arrived in Oakland on Sunday to meet members of the police department.

"This is a tragic day for law enforcement officers everywhere," he said in a statement, adding the slain police officers had "dedicated their lives to public safety and selflessly worked to protect the people of Oakland".

The dead gunman had recently got out of prison on parole and had a long criminal record, was identified by police as Lovelle Mixon, 26. Mixon was previously convicted of an armed robbery in San Francisco.

Police said Mixon used different weapons in each incident. One gun was used at first and an assault rifle was used at the apartment building where he was hiding when he killed the SWAT officers.

Police don't know why the officers initially stopped the suspect, but said it apparently was a routine traffic stop, possibly for speeding or erratic driving.

Mixon's family have apologized to the families of the killed officers, saying he was not a monster.

"He's not a monster," his sister, Enjoli Mixon says. "I don't want people to think he's a monster. He's just not. He's just not."

"We're crushed that this happened," said his grandmother, Mary Mixon. "Our hearts and prayers go out to the officers' families ... this shouldn't have happened."

Mary Mixon says Mixon had a feud with his parole officer, and said he was even willing to return to prison so he could get a new parole officer.

Authorities said the Oakland officers killed were Mark Dunakin (40), Ervin Romans (43), Dan Saki (35), and John Hege (41).

It was the first time an officer in Oakland was killed in the line of duty in five years.

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In other news...

1 dies as bikers rampage in Sydney Australia airport

Warring bikers brawled through Australia's largest airport Sunday, beating one suspected gang member to death and brandishing metal poles "like swords" as they rampaged through the main domestic terminal in front of terrified travellers.

Police said a group of suspected gang members was ambushed as they disembarked from an airplane.

"A fight ensued, the fight moved through various parts of the terminal," said Police Detective Inspector Peter Williams. 15 men were involved in the violence, which rampaged from the ground floor up one level to the departures hall before most of the men fled.

One man died in hospital from head injuries after the brawl, the latest sign of a biker war in Sydney.

"They came running through picking up the big metal barrier poles and swinging them like swords at each other," says witness Naomi Constantine. "I saw one of the men lying on the ground and another man came up with a pole and just started smashing it into his head," she says.

Four men were arrested but many others escaped, some of them by hailing taxis and escaping in the confusion.

Authorities fear the gang war brewing in Sydney will get worse, especially following a string of drive-by shootings and an explosion last month outside a fortified Hell's Angels clubhouse.