Security guard dies from injuries outside Oakland store while protecting TV news crew

OAKLAND, Calif. — A security guard protecting a California television reporter doing a story about a store burglarized in Oakland died from gunshot wounds he sustained after a group of men attempted to rob the news crew of its television camera, authorities said.

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Kevin Nishita, a former police officer who had been working for Star Protection Agency as an armed guard, died Saturday at about 4:39 am. PST, the East Bay Times reported. Nishita accompanied a KRON-TV reporter to the site of a recent robbery of a clothing store in Oakland on Wednesday. The store had been burglarized by a “smash-and-grab” group of about 30 people Monday at 11:15 p.m. PST, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.

Police said an assailant attempted to steal the station’s camera equipment at about 12:20 p.m. PST on Wednesday. Nishita and the reporter were standing outside the store when the security guard was struck by gunfire in the abdomen, Oakland police spokesperson Kim Armstead told reporters.

Nishita worked as a police officer at the Oakland Housing Authority, and was also employed by the Hayward, San Jose and Colma police departments, KRON reported.

A reward of $32,500 is being offered for information that leads to an arrest, the television station reported. KRON, its parent company Nexstar Media Inc. and Star Protection Agency all made contributions to the reward amount, the Times reported.

Nishita is survived by his wife, two children and three grandchildren, according to the Times.

The reporter was not injured but was “understandably shaken,” Jim Rose, vice president and general manager of KRON-TV, told the Chronicle in a statement.

“At KRON4, the safety of our personnel is our top priority which is why we assign security to reporters when working in the field,” Rose said.

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