A police sergeant injured Friday during a shootout at South Point was in stable condition at Hilo Medical Center on Saturday and “recovering nicely,” the Hawaii Police Department said.
Justin Waiki, wanted for killing Puna patrol Officer Bronson Kaliloa, shot the unnamed special response team officer at a checkpoint, police said. The 12-year police veteran had opened the back lift gate of a vehicle where Waiki had been hiding under a blanket.
Other officers then returned fire and fatally shot Waiki who had been on the run since Tuesday night, when police say Waiki shot and killed Kaliloa at a traffic stop in Mountain View.
According to police, Waiki used a .38-caliber revolver, which was reported to have been stolen from a residence in March, on Friday. The injured officer was shot in the chest and arm, police said.
The vehicle used to transport Waiki on South Point Road was a Toyota 4-Runner, registered to the parents of passenger Krystle Ferreira, 29, of Waimea. Also in the vehicle were driver Jorge Pagan-Torres, 35, Malia Lajala, 30, of Hilo, and an unidentified 35-year-old woman who was shot in the leg.
She was being treated Saturday at the hospital, police said.
Pagan-Torres, Ferreira and Lajala were arrested on suspicion of first-degree hindering prosecution and were transported to Kealakehe police station. They had not been charged as of Saturday.
The offense is punishable by up to 5 years in jail.
Police ask if anyone has information relative to this case, or any information on anyone assisting Waiki during this period, to call Detective Jerome Manuel. He can be reached at 326-4646 ext. 262, or email at Jerome.Manuel@hawaiicounty.gov.
