Prosecutors have filed murder charges against a third man in the fatal shooting of Oakland police officer Tuan Le late last month, according to media reports.
KTVU first reported early Sunday that Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price had charged 34-year-old Marquise Cooper with murder in connection with Le’s death. The Los Angeles Times said the DA’s Office filed first-degree murder charges last Friday against Cooper, who is also being charged with conspiracy and burglary.
Alameda County jail records show Cooper was being held without bail and was scheduled to be arraigned at an Oakland courthouse Tuesday morning.
Earlier this month, prosecutors announced they were filing murder charges against Mark Demetrius Sanders, 27, and Allen Starr Brown, 28, for their alleged roles in the killing, while a fourth defendant, Sebron Ray Russell, 28, was charged with burglary in connection with the incident that preceded the shooting. Sanders’s mother, Felicia Williams, 48, was also arrested Jan. 4 on suspicion of trying to help her son flee the state, but the East Bay Times reported that Williams was subsequently released after prosecutors declined to file charges against her.
Police said Le was wearing plainclothes and was in an unmarked vehicle responding to reports of a burglary at a cannabis dispensary on Oakland’s Embarcadero near Fifth Avenue, south of Interstate 880 near the Jack London Aquatic Center when he was shot on Dec. 29, 2023. He was taken by fellow officers to Highland Hospital, where he was pronounced dead around 8:45 a.m.
The District Attorney’s Office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the reports Sunday.