Shooting death rocks Kaneohe

The gunman 'turned around and shot him some more'

Honolulu police were searching for a third suspect last night in a fatal shooting that shattered the peace of a Kaneohe neighborhood late Monday.

The victim has not been positively identified by police but his landlord identified him as Fernando Correa. Homicide Lt. Bill Kato said police have two possible names for the man, including Fernando Correa-Lua, but they have not been able to verify either name. He declined to give the other name.

"We can't positively identify this guy until we get his prints to AFIS (Automated Fingerprint Identification System)," Kato said. "We don't know where he came from or what he's doing here."

Police say the victim was forced into a car at his Puuohalai Street home in Kaneohe. He escaped from the car but was gunned down on Kaneohe Bay Drive near Moakaka Place.

Police arrested two suspects, ages 35 and 26, and believe one of them is the shooter, said Kato. Police did not have a description of the third suspect last night.

Kato said a possible motive for the crime is unknown.

Both suspects in custody have minor criminal histories, but nothing indicating they are violent, Kato said. They include a charge of driving under the influence and driving without a license.

Anne Bower, who witnessed the shooting from her home across the street, said, "This is not the type of thing that happens in Kaneohe."

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He lived alone in the downstairs apartment of the worn-down wooden home at the top of Puuohalai Place in Kaneohe. He seldom had visitors, so it was odd when neighbors heard a muffled scuffle and then saw a white car drive quietly away. His apartment was dark.

His name is Fernando Correa, according to his landlord, and he was gunned down Monday night near Castle High School on Kaneohe Bay Drive in what witnesses say was a cold, determined shooting.

Police yesterday had two suspects in custody and were searching for a third in the second-degree murder case. A suspected getaway car was found in the parking lot of a popular North Shore restaurant, with a bag containing firearms nearby.

While the late-night violence left the normally quiet neighborhood jittery yesterday, a motive for the shootings remained elusive.

Correa, in his 30s, moved into his Kaneohe apartment in February. He told his landlord he was a musician and promised he wouldn't play his Hawaiian reggae music too loud.

He moved to Kaneohe because living in Waikiki was too expensive, though he was originally from the mainland, his landlord said.

But no one really knew him or paid much attention to their neighbor until Monday night. A little before 10 p.m. Monday, neighbors heard an argument.

"I heard there was a scuffle," said Luis Fernando, who rents a bedroom above Correa's apartment. "You can pretty much feel everything going on around the house. I didn't think anything of it."

But a neighbor, who requested anonymity, thought the argument sounded distressed, as if someone had his mouth covered. According to Honolulu police, the three men forced Correa into a white Ford Crown Victoria.

Kim Buffett, coordinator of Honolulu CrimeStoppers, said a woman was at Correa's apartment at the time of the argument and was interviewed by police yesterday, but wasn't helpful. Her relationship to Correa is unknown.

From a bedroom window, the neighbor watched the car drive away and saw a young, slender woman with long, dark hair walk down the street.

"She was scared," the neighbor said. "I came out on the lanai and asked if she was all right. She just totally ignored me. I took out a flashlight and waved it at her and she didn't even look at me."

The car was driving on Kaneohe Bay Drive when Correa was able to escape near Moakaka Place, police said. Witnesses said the car made a U-turn and one of the men chased him. Correa fell, police said, and then one of the men shot him.

"We heard two or three pops. I thought a car had backfired," said Anne Bower, 68, whose house on Moakaka Way overlooks Kaneohe Bay Drive. "The guy was on the ground and was still moving. Then the shooter turned around and shot him some more. It was more than a dozen shots, could have been 50. It looked like fireworks going off across the streets because the shots were flashing."

Gerald Javier, who lives on Moakaka Way and witnessed the shooting, said the shooter was calm and cold. The driver had gotten out of the car as the shooter walked back. He threw the gun into the trunk. Then the car took off, Javier said.

Police officers found Correa lying in the roadway with multiple gunshot wounds to the head and torso. He was taken to Castle Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead. There was also at least one stray bullet fired into a nearby home, police said.

At 10:30 p.m., the white Crown Victoria was spotted at the 7-Eleven store in Kaaawa on Kamehameha Highway, police said. The car took off as police converged on the store, heading toward Haleiwa.

Police found the car abandoned in the parking lot of Jameson's by the Sea Restaurant in Haleiwa at 11 p.m. The three ran as police approached.

One of them, 35, was arrested behind a nearby home, police said. Police recovered a bag with automatic weapons inside.

A police manhunt, which included dozens of officers and the SWAT team, searched for the remaining two men.

Yesterday morning, police received a call that a suspicious-looking man was on the side of the road in Laniakea, looking for a ride into town, Buffett said. He was bloody and scratched, with injuries consistent with running in the bushes, she said.

Police arrested the hitchhiker, 26, of Ewa Beach, at about 8 a.m. at 61-631 Kamehameha Highway. He has two prior arrests and convictions for drunken driving and having an open alcoholic drink while driving.

Police are still looking for the third man. They gave no description of him but are asking the public to call CrimeStoppers at 955-8300 or *CRIME from cell phones with any information.

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