Police begin investigation of fatal Kapolei shooting

By Scott Ishikawa and Vicki Viotti
Advertiser Staff Writers

Honolulu police yesterday began to piece together the deadly circumstances that led to officer Glen Gaspar's death, including an internal investigation to determine whether officers followed proper procedures in trying to apprehend an armed and dangerous fugitive.

Police officers bowed their heads in prayer during a blessing ceremony yesterday at the Kapolei Baskin-Robbins, where officer Glen Gaspar died Tuesday after trying to apprehend a fugitive. Family, friends and the public attended. Bruce Asato • The Honolulu Advertiser

Donohue would not speculate whether a bulletproof vest could have stopped a bullet at point-blank range, as in Gaspar's situation. Gaspar died of wounds to the heart and liver. Donohue said the distance between the gun and Gaspar, the angle of the bullet, and the locations of the gunshot wounds could have been factors.

Donohue said the body-armor issue will be addressed in the administrative investigation, which he said is standard procedure in these situations.

He said an internal investigation would also seek to determine whether other officers were wearing protective vests and whether officers acted properly in arresting an armed and dangerous fugitive at the Baskin-Robbins ice cream store in a busy Kapolei shopping center.

He declined to answer other questions, citing the internal probe and the criminal investigation against Shane Mark, 28, accused in the fatal shooting.

Mark was taken to St. Francis Medical Center-West after the shooting, complaining of what Donohue described as breathing difficulties. Mark was released from the hospital yesterday afternoon and taken to the police cellblock.

A homicide lieutenant, Gaspar and four other police officers went to the shopping center based on an 8 a.m. tip Tuesday that Mark would be there to meet someone, police said. Mark was wanted in an attempted-murder case in which he allegedly pulled a gun from his waistband at a Moanalua Road parking lot Feb. 1 and shot a man in the thigh after a dispute over a video camera.

When Gaspar and another officer confronted Mark at the ice cream parlor, Mark pulled a gun from the waistband of his pants, according to Capt. Alan Arita, acting major of the Criminal Investigation Division.

Gaspar grabbed Mark first and officers wrestled him to the ground, Arita said. During the struggle, two or three shots were fired. Donohue yesterday would not say how many.

Donohue said it took three officers to subdue Mark, who is 5 feet 6 and weighs about 150 pounds.

Arita said the officers chose to confront Mark inside the ice cream shop to minimize danger to others.

"They didn't want to do it outside because they wanted to avoid a shoot-out in the open and reduce the chances of him fleeing," Arita said.

Shane Mark

Shane Mark, the suspect in the shooting death of Officer Glen Gaspar, leaves St. Francis Medical Center-West. Bruce Asato • The Honolulu Advertiser

Donohue said police did not return fire during the incident, and he believed all six officers carried guns at the time. The chief said the suspect's gun, a low-caliber revolver, was recovered.

The chief also said police are awaiting a toxicology report from the hospital to see if the suspect had drugs in his system at the time. A police source said Mark had a number of drugs in his system, including crystal methamphetamine.

Tuesday's shooting wasn't Mark's first run-in with police.

Mark's criminal history of 14 convictions includes a misdemeanor assault of a police officer in 1996. Mark, who was suspected of reckless driving, led police on a foot chase in Waikiki, ran into a hotel and slammed a hotel room door on an officer's shoulder, according to police spokeswoman Michelle Yu.

In the Feb. 1 attempted-murder case on Moanalua Road, police said Mark had arranged to meet two men there because a surveillance camera he'd bought from them didn't work. An argument broke out and Mark allegedly shot at the men and wounded one of them in the right thigh, according to a police affidavit.

Prison records indicate that Mark dropped out of school in 1990 after finishing ninth grade at at Nanakuli High and Intermediate School. He earned his diploma at McKinley Community School for Adults in 1992.

But in 1994, his girlfriend, listed in court documents as Melissa Hecky, filed for a temporary restraining order against Mark, asserting that he carried guns and knives and used crystal methamphetamine and marijuana.

Convictions for first-degree burglary, unauthorized entry into a motor vehicle and unauthorized control of a propelled vehicle got him sentenced in 1998 to three concurrent prison terms of five years, according to the Hawai'i Criminal Justice Data Center.

Part of his term was spent at Diamondback Correctional Facility in Watonga, Okla., where he attended a program that included instruction in employment skills and family dynamics, said Dovie Borges, unit manager at the Laumaka Work Furlough Center.

The classes helped Mark qualify for transfer to Laumaka in September 2000, she said, but a string of rule infractions stemming from his continued use of ice led to his transfer to the Halawa prison in March 2002, where he remained until his release Nov. 10.

"He got here because he met the criteria," Borges said. "What he didn't do was follow the rules.

"He was attempting to get his act together, but that's all it was — an act. Somewhere along the line, he didn't get it ... We try to provide as much service as we can, but there is a contribution the offender has to make. He wasn't willing to put in his 50 percent."

The Hawai'i Paroling Authority turned down his requests for early release based on his behavioral record, administrator Tommy Johnson said.

Also yesterday, U.S. Attorney Ed Kubo said Gaspar had worked on several federal investigations and might be alive today if Hawai'i adopted a "three strikes" law calling for longer sentences for repeat offenders.

In a written release, Kubo said the suspect in Gaspar's shooting had served his full prison term before his release.

"If state laws can be changed to protect us from these repeat offenders, officer Gaspar's death will not have been in vain," he said.

Advertiser staff writers Rod Ohira, Curtis Lum and Zenaida Espanol contributed to this report.