After almost two years on the run, Laron Marques Gilbert, a third suspect in the former police officer Kevin Nishita murder case, was extradited back to the Bay Area and booked into Santa Rita Jail on Tuesday.
“I just want to say thank you from Kevin, our family, and myself. Thank you to Oakland Police Department, the U.S. Marshalls, and all of the law enforcement agencies that were involved with this capture,” says Virginia Nishita, the widow of Mr. Nishita.
Kevin Nishita, a retired veteran police officer, was shot on November 24, 2021, while guarding a TV news crew. He died several days later.
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Gilbert was arrested by U.S. Marshalls on January 17, 2024, in Kansas City, Missouri. All three suspects, Shadihia Mitchell, Hershel Hale and Gilbert, currently face murder charges.
“We believe Gilbert was the driver,” says Oakland Police Sergeant Nicole Allen. She is the lead investigator in the case.
But the Alameda County Public Defenders Office, which represents Mitchell, says there is evidence contrary to what OPD is alleging.