AYUMI NAKANISHI / ANAKANISHI@STARBULLETIN.COM
A bullet-riddled truck involved yesterday in a shootout with police came to rest just off Kahekili Highway in Kaneohe.
Felon killed in A convicted felon wanted on a parole violation died yesterday afternoon following a dramatic shootout with police on Kahekili Highway that sent area residents scrambling for safety and snarled Windward traffic for hours.
dramatic shootout with
police in Kaneohe
A witness says 100 shots were fired,
but no residents are hurtBy Nelson Daranciang and Rod Antone
ndaranciang@starbulletin.com | rantone@starbulletin.comArnold Willets, 36, was pronounced dead from gunshot wounds at the Queen's Medical Center. He had been paroled several months ago, and police said a warrant for Willets' arrest was issued earlier this week for a parole violation.
A 22-year-old man, who was in the pickup that Willets was traveling in, was in guarded condition at Queen's Medical Center with gunshot wounds, and another passenger, a 2-year-old boy, was in good condition with minor bruises to the head. Police said one officer suffered minor injuries from shattered glass.
One witness said he heard about a hundred shots fired, and a Kaneohe firefighter said he saw a few dozen shell casings littering the crime scene.
At least nine officers who fired their weapons have been put on paid administrative leave pending an internal police investigation, police said.
The shootout started about 1:15 p.m. on Kamau Place and ended about 1:30 p.m. on Kahekili Highway. Police closed the highway between Likelike Highway and Kahuhipa Street as they tried to piece together what happened. At 6:30 p.m. they opened just the north-bound lanes.
The shootout started as a hit-and-run traffic collision on Old Kamehameha Highway, said Maj. Susan Dowsett, District 4 commander.
A white pickup truck involved in the accident refused to stop, so police officers followed it.
"It was very slow speed, very nonconfrontational. They were just trying to stop the guy to find out who the driver was," Dowsett said.
The driver appeared as though he was going to pull over several times but instead kept going.
"Next thing they know, the guy is firing at them with a shotgun, and they, of course, returned fire," Dowsett said.
She said the gunman started shooting at police on Kahekili Highway.
The driver went on to Likelike Highway toward Honolulu, turned around, wound up on Kaneohe Bay Drive, turned around again, went back onto Kahekili Highway, turned down Keaahala Road and turned around at the Kamau Place intersection. That is where police started firing back, she said.
Melissa Igafo was sitting outside her Koolau Village home on Kamau Place facing the
Keaahala intersection when she saw the white pickup make a U-turn. She said a police officer following the pickup got out of his vehicle and started firing.
"It was so scary. You could see him and he was shooting." Igafo said the officer was shooting toward the housing complex.
Jimmy Keama, who was also sitting outside his Koolau Village home, said he hit the ground when he saw the officer shooting his way. He said he ran for cover as the exchange continued onto Kahekili Highway. He estimated that he heard a hundred shots.
"It's a good thing school was still in, because a lot of kids walk home past there," she said.
Kapunahala Elementary is on nearby Anoi Road.
"We heard the shots go off," said Karen Segawa, school principal. She said that at the time of the shooting, the school was hosting a Wellness Day on campus attended by parents of the 600 students.
"We just went into lockdown mode. Thankfully, no one panicked and everyone stayed calm. ... We gathered all the children and adults and went into the classrooms, then closed the door until we got the all-clear," Segawa said.
The truck wound up just off the south-bound lanes of the highway near Kaneohe District Park and caught fire.
Willets reportedly exited the truck holding the boy, but then surrendered and was taken to Queen's.
The other man remained in the truck briefly, witnesses said, but eventually came out and put up a fight as officers tried to handcuff him, witnesses said.
In March 2001, Willets made the Honolulu CrimeStoppers' wanted-criminals list after he escaped from the Laumaka Work Furlough program. He was recaptured a month later while driving a stolen vehicle in Kalaeloa.
Willets had eight prior felony convictions that included robbery, kidnapping, auto theft and various firearms violations.
In 1993, HPD classified Willets as a career criminal.
The driver had just been arrested last month after being charged with rape by a state grand jury, and has four felony cases pending, police said.
