Enlarge By Justin Sullivan, Getty Images Police officers and other men pray outside of the emergency room at Highland Hospital, in Oakland. An Oakland policeman shot by a wanted parolee was pronounced brain-dead Sunday, one day after three fellow officers were killed in a running shootout that became one of the bloodiest ever for a local U.S. police department. Officer John Hege, 41, was on life support and a final decision was still being made about donating his organs, Oakland Police Department spokesman Jeff Thomason said. Suspect Lovelle Mixon, 26, who was wanted on a parole violation, fired on Hege and another motorcycle officer, Sgt. Mark Dunakin, 40, after they pulled his car over Saturday afternoon, police said. Mixon was slain a few hours later in a gunfight with police that killed two more officers: Sgt. Ervin Romans, 43, and Sgt. Daniel Sakai, 35. It was the most Oakland police officers mortally wounded in the line of duty on one day. Kevin Morison, spokesman for the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund, said it appeared to be the worst shooting involving officers of a single department in California in 39 years. Police said Mixon ran off after he shot the motorcycle officers, police said. It led to 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 closed to traffic. Police said that several hours later, they got an anonymous tip that he was inside a nearby apartment building. A SWAT team entered the building. Mixon opened fire, and Romans and Sakai were killed. Officers fired back, killing Mixon, Acting Police Chief Howard Jordan said. Police said they did not know why the officers stopped Mixon's car but said it apparently was a routine stop and that Mixon had an extensive criminal history. Relations between the community and police became tense in Oakland after an unarmed 22-year-old man was shot to death by a transit police officer Jan. 1. On Saturday, about 20 people lingered at the scene of the first shooting, taunting police. Including the three Oakland fatalities, eight law enforcement officers have been shot to death in the line of duty in the nation this year, compared with 11 over the same period last year, according to the Officers Memorial Fund. The number of officers killed nationally declined sharply in 2008, and fewer officers were killed by gunfire than any time since 1956. Experts attributed the decline to several factors, including increased police training, Morison said. Contributing: Associated Press Guidelines: You share in the USA TODAY community, so please keep your comments smart and civil. Don't attack other readers personally, and keep your language decent. Use the "Report Abuse" button to make a difference. You share in the USA TODAY community, so please keep your comments smart and civil. Don't attack other readers personally, and keep your language decent. Use the "Report Abuse" button to make a difference. Read more