Insets, clockwise from top: Kevin Nishita, Laron Gilbert, Hershel Hale and Shadihia Mitchell (Oakland Police Department). Background: The area where Kevin Nishita was killed in Oakland, Calif., by Laron Gilbert, Hershel Hale and Shadihia Mitchell (KPIX/YouTube).
A retired California cop doing security for a news crew — after being asked to work for “just a few hours” on his day off — was shot dead during a robbery committed by three men who are now headed to prison for decades.
Kevin Nishita, a 56-year-old former Oakland Police officer, was protecting a television news crew when Laron Gilbert, Shadihia Mitchell and Hershel Hale set upon them and shot Nishita in the abdomen during an attempt to steal camera equipment. The November 2021 shooting, which unfolded a day before Thanksgiving, led to murder and other charges for all three men, who were sentenced this week in Alameda County.
Gilbert, who was the gunman, was sentenced to 30 years to life after he pleaded no contest to first-degree murder. Mitchell and Hale each received 25-year sentences after they pleaded no contest to robbery. The men were convicted in February.
Nishita”s wife gave a victim’s impact statement at the men’s sentencing hearing Tuesday and noted how Nishita was asked to work for “just a few hours” that day.
“Saying ‘OK’ has haunted me,” said Virginia Nishita, according to local CBS affiliate KPIX. “I wish I could go back to that day and say, ‘No, it’s your day off. Let’s prepare our Thanksgiving meal. Let’s continue what we’re doing. Don’t go to work.’ I wish I could go back to that day … and say, ‘no.'”
Kevin and Virginia Nishita had two children and three grandchildren. He was working security for local CW affiliate KRON in Oakland when the shooting happened. He died three days later while in the hospital.
“During the course of the investigation through surveillance video, forensic evidence and witness statements, Laron Gilbert, Hershel Hale and Shadihia Mitchell were identified as the suspects responsible for the attempted robbery,” Oakland Police said in charging documents obtained and previously reported by Law&Crime.
Nishita worked with the Oakland Housing Authority, Hayward Police Department, San Jose Police Department, and Colma Police Department over the course of his career.
Speaking shortly after the murder, his daughter Maureen Campos described how her father was preparing to join them on a vacation.
“I know for one thing he wants us to stop crying,” she told KPIX at the time. “I know he’ll want us to take the vacation, but to be honest it’s too hard to do, and I don’t even know how many months can pass until we can go on that airplane.”
