Suspect killed
in Hilo shootout

An officer is wounded and
the assailant is shot to death

By Rod Thompson
Star-Bulletin

HILO -- A gunman who wounded a police officer was killed by other officers in a shootout near a police station on the Big Island last night.

Eyewitness Eva Anderson, who lives just a block from the station, said she stood in front of her house at about 9 p.m. and watched as a man stood over the officer and shot him.

"I saw it very clearly," she said. "He had his gun pointed right at the cop's stomach and he shot him four or five times. The cop was just lying there."

Witnesses in the Kapiolani Street neighborhood said the suspect was shot a short time later by numerous officers who pursued him.

Police issued a statement identifying the suspect as Miguel A. Viera, 29, of Glenwood.

They identified the officer as Lance Ambrose, 37, wounded in the hip. He remains in stable condition at Hilo Hospital today, officials there said.

Police at the scene said Ambrose was wearing a protective vest.

Anderson said the incident began with Viera visiting a home three doors away. Other witnesses identified the occupant as James "Kimo" Pihana, known in Hilo as a frequent participant in Hawaiian sovereignty demonstrations. Viera was described as the boyfriend of Pihana's daughter.

Apparently, Pihana ordered Viera from the house, and a shot was fired, witnesses said.

Several minutes passed.

Police were called, and Ambrose was one of the first to arrive on the scene.

Other witnesses said they heard one more shot, then a series of shots.

"As one guy (Ambrose) was getting shot down, there were five more (police) pulling up," said Anderson.

She and a friend ducked behind a two-foot-high cinder block wall.

"It was very surreal," she said. "The guns sounded so quiet. It was like 'pak, pak, pak.'" Other witnesses said the gunfire sounded like firecrackers going off.

Viera was hit.

The wounded Viera then jumped off a six-foot embankment, and stood at the corner of a house, apparently dazed, with gun still in hand, police said.

They watched as Viera gradually sank to the ground.

Arriving fire department paramedics reported that Viera was dead at the scene.

Anderson said Viera was a very quiet person who had visited her house previously.

"He came to a barbecue last week. He was really nice. We gave him some juice," she said.

The police statement said a homicide and four attempted murder investigations are under way.

An internal investigation was also begun, they said, describing that as a standard procedure whenever a police officer is involved in a shooting.