Gunman did not aim
at cops, lawyer says

He says his client had no intent to
kill in the Hawaii Kai incident

---

By Debra Barayuga
dbarayuga@starbulletin.com

A gunman who fired more than 100 shots last year from his Hawaii Kai apartment over a five-hour period was "absolutely reckless," but he did not intend to kill anyone, let alone any police officers, his attorney said.

Peter Takeda, 39, went on trial yesterday in Circuit Judge Karl Sakamoto's courtroom on five charges of first-degree attempted murder for firing shots toward at least three police officers and possessing a firearm.

Also on trial as an accomplice is his friend Gervin Sorino, 25, who was holed up with Takeda during the barrage of gunfire.

Takeda's attorney, deputy public defender Todd Eddins, said his client was a "delusional, desperate and petrified man" on Aug. 7, 2000, after taking more medication than he should have for a back injury and depression and because he believed his estranged wife had hired assassins to kill him.

Takeda fired a "tremendous amount" of shots from two handguns into the ceiling, walls and toward the lanai and through closed windows, but denies shooting directly at the officers, Eddins said.

Of the 149 spent shell casings or bullet fragments recovered from the scene, only one was found on the road near where three officers had taken cover, he said. Eddins asked the jury to find his client guilty, but not of the offenses he is charged with.

Deputy prosecutor Lucianne Khalaf said the three officers who were pinned down by gunfire fired from Apartment 612 at the Heritage House condominium complex feared for their lives but were unable to move. For five hours, Takeda and Sorino held the Hawaii Kai neighborhood in fear, she said. When the two were captured, one of the first things Takeda said was, "How many people died?" He had no idea that no one had been hit.

She said Sorino, who was prohibited from possessing or handling any firearms because he is a convicted felon, admitted to assisting Takeda by helping him reload the handguns. Takeda and Sorino also admitted they knew police officers outside were human but were assassins nevertheless, so they acted in self-defense.

A police sniper ended the standoff by firing a shot at Takeda and grazing him in the neck.

Sorino contends he was a victim of circumstance who was there simply because he had responded to a troubled friend's plea for help.

Sorino's attorney, Nelson Goo, said that after Takeda was shot, Sorino disarmed Takeda and indicated to police negotiators they were surrendering. Sorino told police he touched the handgun twice, only to place it into a trash can when Takeda asked him to reload and when he disarmed Takeda. He denies firing any shots.

"I never do anything," he told police later.

If convicted of attempted first-degree murder, both face life without parole.