Kevin Nishita, a security guard and retired police officer who was shot and killed while protecting a local news reporter in Oakland last week, has made it to his final resting place.
Police cars and motorcycles escorted Nishita's body 41 miles from Alameda County to a Mountain View funeral home, flashing their red and blue lights as two helicopters flew above them.
Nishita was shot in Oakland a week ago while protecting a KRON reporter on assignment covering the aftermath of a burglarly from earlier in the week. He died in a hospital on Saturday, three days after the shooting.
Nishita worked for the Hayward, San Jose, Oakland Housing Authority and Colma police departments before retiring in 2018 and moving to security for Star Protection Agency. Those law enforcement agencies, and more, were represented at Wednesday's procession.
"Kevin was a great guy," San Jose Police Sgt. Leo Prescott, who worked alongside Nishita for three years as a detective in gang investigations, told KCBS Radio on Wednesday. "Very funny guy. Always had a smile on his face. Even if we were in an argument about something and we disagreed on how to handle a case, it was always with a smile on his face and he will be sorely missed."
Officers stood at attention on either side of the hearse as Nishita's flag-draped coffin was wheeled into the mortuary, while San Jose resident Angela Tirado offered a send-off in song.
"When I heard about this, I felt that it was my duty and God put me here to let them know how important (he was), that he's our hero," Tirado told KCBS Radio.
Not long after Nishita's procession, the Oakland Police Department said on Wednesday it was seeking a person who is believed to have recorded video of the shooting on their cell phone. The department said investigators believed it "contains additional leads," as well as footage of "the suspect vehicle fleeing the scene."
Nishita will be buried in a private ceremony.
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