Patrol officers who responded to an alarm that went off at Ewa Elementary about 9 p.m. Wednesday found a blue Honda parked in the school lot. The four-door Accord had been reported stolen June 3 from a Pearl City address, police said.

What set this case apart from the typical car recovery was the graffiti painted and scratched on the outside and interior of the car, police said.

The phrases included: "F-- HPD," "F-- the cops" and "187 HPD." The use of 187 - the California penal code number for murder - apparently has spread to youth gangs here and is an implied death threat, police said. The Hawaii penal code for murder is 707.701.

Police expanded their investigation to include criminal property damage and terroristic threatening after the graffiti also named the police officer who fired shots at a fleeing Honda car in Waimalu early last Friday.

Killed in the shooting was the driver, Jared Fe Benito. Police are conducting a homicide investigation into his death and the actions taken by the officers involved.

Police are not taking the threats lightly.

"Any type of threat against any police officer is something to be concerned with," said one veteran officer, who declined to be identified. But he added that officers are verbally threatened more often than is reported.

Police, however, particularly need to use caution when dealing with gangs because gang members may be incited to carry out their threats, the officer said.

Police earlier this week were looking into rumors of threats made against officers, and spoke with Pearl City youths associated with gangs. They denied knowledge of these threats, police said.

Police also received reports of graffiti discovered on the former Gibson's building in Mapunapuna over the weekend.

A security guard reporting for duty around 7 a.m. Saturday - the day after the shooting in Waimalu - discovered graffiti covering two panels on the outside of the building farthest from the road.

Sentiments similar to those found on the car recovered at Ewa Elementary covered a 40-foot section of the white building. The graffiti has since been painted over. Included in the tags were "R.I.P. CH."

"CH" is believed to refer to 16-year-old Chauncey Hata, who was shot in the face in Friday's shooting but lived. He was a passenger in the stolen car that police boxed in at Hekaha Street and Moanalua Road.

When the shooting occurred last Friday, the last day of school for public school students, acquaintances thought Hata had also died - possibly accounting for the rest-in-peace message, police said.

A third youth also fled in the stolen car. He was questioned by police about the shooting over the weekend but was not arrested.

A police officer opened fire on the stolen car after Fe Benito reversed, nearly striking an officer, and lurched forward, managing to escape a blockade of four police cars.

Fe Benito managed to drive more than a half-mile on Moanalua Road before crashing into a parking garage across from Kapiolani Hospital at Pali Momi. His passengers fled. Fe Benito died a few hours later.

A sergeant and two officers present during the shooting are back at their jobs.

A fourth officer, believed to be the officer who fired his gun, remains on administrative leave, said Jean Motoyama, police spokeswoman.