Posted at 11:05 a.m., Thursday, April 19, 2001
Police shooting suspects likely to be released
• Relatives stunned by H-2 shooting
By Brandon Masuoka
Advertiser Staff Writer
Three Wai'anae residents who are suspects in Tuesday's gun battle with police that left one person dead and two officers wounded likely will be released pending further investigation on a charge of first-degree attempted murder.
Police said all three are being investigated for gun offenses in connection with the shooting. Two of the three also are being investigated for unrelated auto thefts.
The shooting occurred at 4:51 p.m. Tuesday on a grassy median on the H-2 freeway about a mile north of Ka Uka Boulevard. Police had been chasing a van with four occupants, which they said was speeding.
When the van finally stopped there was a scuffle after officers tried to apprehend the four occupants. Police said Levi Esperas shot at the officers, who returned fire.
A police investigation showed that only Esperas, 27, of Wai'anae, shot at police. The other three occupants of the van, Esperas' wife, Bernadette La'a, 28, Jesse Ani, 28, and Samuel Hao, 29, did not, police said.
Esperas was shot by police and died yesterday.
La'a and Ani are suspected of other auto theft offenses earlier this month, according to police reports and arrest records.
