2 OAKLAND COPS KILL UNDERCOVER OFFICER, 29

OAKLAND -- An undercover police officer was shot and killed by two
uniformed officers while arresting a suspect in a car theft.

At a somber news conference, Lt. Paul Berlin of the Oakland Police
Department said yesterday that officer William Wilkins, 29, was on a drug
stakeout late Thursday and wasn't in uniform when he spotted a car speeding by.

Berlin said Wilkins gave chase about 11 p.m. and caught the car thief
suspect near Oakland's border with San Leandro. Wilkins was holding the
suspect at gunpoint in a driveway when uniformed officers arrived.

At least one officer opened fire, and Wilkins was hit several times in the
upper torso, police Chief Richard Word said.

Berlin said 11 shell casings were found at the scene, and he did not know
whether Wilkins returned fire.

A resident of the house next to the driveway where the shooting occurred
said she saw at least eight officers at the scene just seconds after the
shots were fired -- apparently before police realized they had shot a
fellow officer.

The resident, Kim Davis, said the shots awakened her and she ran to her
front door. She said she saw Wilkins -- wearing jeans, a shirt, a jacket
and a beanie cap -- on the ground with a wound in his upper body.

Officers attempted to revive him, but Wilkins died at Highland Hospital at
2:20 a.m.

Berlin said two officers involved in the shooting -- both in their early
20s -- have been on the force less than a year and were traumatized by the
incident.

Berlin said it was unclear whether the two knew an undercover officer was
responding to the car theft. Investigators were checking radio tapes, he said.

The car thief suspect was in custody and could face charges in Wilkins'
death, Berlin said.

Wilkins, who had been on the Oakland police force for seven years, is
survived by a wife and 10-month-old son.

"Our sympathy goes out to the family," said Oakland Mayor Jerry Brown at
the news conference. "This is the kind of tragedy we hope never happens."