CRAIG T. KOJIMA / CKOJIMA@STARBULLETIN.COM
Suspected killer Shane Mark, held on $5 million bail, made his initial appearance this morning in Honolulu District Court.
Suspect tests Shane Mark, accused of fatally shooting plainclothes Honolulu police officer Glen Gaspar tested positive for several drugs following his arrest Tuesday, including the powerful hallucinogen PCP, a source close to the investigation said.
positive
for drugs
A drug test showed ‘angel dust’
Suspect faces life imprisonment
in the system of an
HPD officer’s alleged killer
without possibility of parolBy Nelson Daranciang
ndaranciang@starbulletin.comThe staff at St. Francis Medical Center-West performed a toxicology test on Mark when police took him there for observation after the shooting.
The drug phencyclidine, also known as PCP or angel dust, was found in the test, a source told the Star-Bulletin.
Use of PCP is rare but was prevalent in Hawaii about a decade ago, said M.P. "Andy" Anderson, chief executive of drug treatment organization Hina Mauka. It can affect different people in different ways, and "it has a characteristic, for some reason, of making people much more powerful than they would normally be," Anderson said.
Mark spent the night in the hospital and was released into police custody yesterday afternoon.
As police continue to investigate the shooting, they would not say whether Gaspar was wearing a protective vest as is required by department policy. But city Emergency Medical Services officials said he was not wearing one when he was taken to St. Francis Medical Center-West.
Gaspar's ex-wife, Renee Gaspar, recalled yesterday how "he didn't like to wear a vest." She said she would sometimes urge him to wear one, but "he was headstrong, and confident and good and passionate about what he did, so I didn't worry about it. ... He probably didn't think anything would ever happen."
The Honolulu medical examiner performed an autopsy on Gaspar's body yesterday and listed the cause of death as gunshot wounds to the chest with injuries to his heart and liver.
In the wake of the shooting, U.S. Attorney Ed Kubo called yesterday for stiffer penalties of career criminals.
Kubo said it is frustrating to see a person who has multiple prior convictions, and dozens and dozens more arrests, back in the community committing more crimes.
Mark has 14 convictions, four of them felonies, and 66 arrests dating back to March 1993. Twenty-four of his arrests were for felonies; 33 were misdemeanors, including 22 for contempt of court; and nine, petty misdemeanors and violations. He was released from prison Nov. 10 after serving five years for four separate convictions.
Kubo said his office is assisting police with the investigation and trying to determine whether Mark faces federal prosecution.
"The only way we would entertain taking the case is if the death penalty would apply in this case," Kubo said.
Star-Bulletin reporter Sally Apgar and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Police and prosecutors charged Shane Mark with first-degree murder last night in connection with the fatal shooting of Honolulu police officer Glen Gaspar. Suspect faces life if
convicted of killing
a police officerBy Sally Apgar and Debra Barayuga
sapgar@starbulletin.com, dbarayuga@starbulletin.comIf convicted Mark, 28, will spend the rest of his life in jail without the possibility of parole. His bail has been set at $5 million.
Police also charged Mark with first degree attempted murder, being a felon in possession of a firearm, use of a firearm in the commission of a felony, possession of illegal drugs and possession of drug paraphernalia.
Mark faces a first degree attempted murder charge because he allegedly pointed a gun at another officer as Gaspar and other officers tried to subdue him at the Baskin-Robbins ice cream shop in the Kapolei Shopping Center about 1 p.m. Tuesday.
Mark was wanted in connection with a Feb. 1 incident in which he allegedly shot a man in the thigh during an argument over a faulty surveillance video camera.
Police planned to arrest Mark inside the ice cream parlor, where he was going to meet his ex-girlfriend and 9-year-old daughter, rather than in the parking lot to limit the public's exposure to danger and limit Mark's avenues of escape, a police source said yesterday. The ex-girlfriend and daughter left the store when police entered.
Mark made an initial appearance in Honolulu District Court this morning.
Court documents filed today give a glimpse of what happened inside the ice cream shop when the fatal shots were fired.
According to the documents, members of the elite Career Criminal Unit were staking out the Baskin Robbins on a tip.
At 12:05, the former girlfriend, her daughter and her current boyfriend entered the store. Mark entered the store 50 minutes later. Gaspar and another officer followed Mark into the store.
An officer observing from an undercover police van said he saw Gaspar and another undercover officer struggling with Mark. The officer ran into the store, grabbed Mark and joined the struggle to wrestle him to the floor. The officer, according to the documents, repeatedly identified himself as a police office and ordered Mark to stop resisting.
As the officer fell to the floor, he heard two gunshots come from his lower left. When he hit the floor, he heard another shot, again from his left. Then he heard Gaspar say "I've been shot." '
The officer glanced at Gaspar and saw his eyes were closed and heard "a gurgling sound coming from him." He turned back to Mark and the struggle which now involved more officers.
The officer grabbed Mark's right arm and saw he was holding a small, blue-finished revolver with a wood grip in his right hand.
According to the documents, the officer watched as Mark pointed the gun at him and then another officer. Mark pointed the gun back and forth between the two officers several times "as if he wanted to shoot either of us."
The officer said he was able to pull the gun out of Mark's hand. The struggle continued for a few more seconds until another officer was able to handcuff him.
Star-Bulletin reporter Nelson Daranciang contributed to this story.
