East Bay law enforcement officials have identified the three suspects charged in connection with Kevin Nishita's killing.
The Alameda County District Attorney's Office and Oakland Police Department said on Thursday that Laron Gilbert, Hershel Hale and Shadihia Mitchell had been charged with murder, attempted second-degree robbery and assault with a semi-automatic firearm. Mitchell was also charged with possession of a firearm by a felon.
Officials said Hale and Mitchell have been arrested, while Gilbert remains at large. Mitchell will be arraigned Friday at 8:30 a.m. at the East County Hall of Justice in Dublin. Hale's arraignment has not yet been scheduled.
"We send our condolences to the family of Mr. Nishita, his former colleagues at the Colma, Hayward and San Jose police departments and his colleagues in the security business and news media for his tragic and senseless death," Alameda County District Attorney Nancy O’Malley said in a statement.
Nishita, a retired Bay Area police officer working as a security guard for Star Protection Agency, was shot in an attempted robbery of a KRON news crew on Nov. 24, 2021. He died of his injuries in an Oakland hospital three days later.
The district attorney's office alleged in a March 15 court filing that Mitchell shot Nishita and was "the actual killer." Gilbert and Hale were also armed and "acted with reckless indifference to human life," according to the charging document.
The Oakland Police Department announced on Dec. 22 that officers had arrested two suspects, two days after finding a car police said looked "similar" to one connected to the shooting.
Police said they arrested one man in Sunnyvale on Dec. 20 and another in San Francisco on Dec. 21, but they didn't identify either person. They announced on Wednesday that three people had been charged, but didn't release additional information until a joint press conference with district attorney's and U.S. Marshals Service officials on Thursday afternoon.
Oakland Police Chief LeRonne Armstrong said then that U.S. Marshals arrested Mitchell in San Francisco on Wednesday, and federal officials said the San Francisco Police Department assisted in Mitchell's arrest.
Hale, 25, was arrested in San Francisco on Feb. 9, according to Armstrong, where he remains in custody on separate charges. Hale will appear in San Francisco court on April 1 for a 9 a.m. hearing, according to court and sheriff's office records.
Police said Thursday that Gilbert was in custody "a couple of months ago" on "an unrelated parole violation charge" before being released. He wouldn't say where or when Gilbert last seen, citing the ongoing investigation.
"We have been tracking his whereabouts and we are continuing to pursue all leads that we get," Armstrong said. "But, again, we have not located him yet."
All three men have previously been convicted of felonies, and police said they're believed to be associated with an unnamed San Francisco street gang. If convicted, Hale would be sentenced as a second-strike offender and Gilbert as a third. Mitchell was not previously convicted of a serious felony, according to the charging document.
Armstrong said tips from Oaklanders and San Franciscans after police published pictures of the car in December proved "very instrumental" in charging the trio and arresting two of them, as did detectives' "relentless follow-up." The chief said he notified the Nishita family of the charges prior to Thursday's announcement.
"Obviously, nothing brings back your loved one, but this is something that people can feel some sense of justice as a result of these arrests," Armstrong said.
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