On a second-floor ledge of an apartment building at Mayor Wright Homes, police officers cover the body of a man believed to be Gordon Morse, 32. According to police, he was the driver of a stolen truck that dragged an officer last month on Round Top Drive. Jeff Widener • The Honolulu Advertiser

The wounded officer was identified by a family member as Ermie Barroga Jr., a 20-year police veteran assigned to the Kalihi Crime Reduction Unit. Barroga was shot in the arm and in the back of his head, and was in fair condition today at The Queen's Medical Center.

The second wounded man, identified by a relative today as 19-year-old Manuel Kalaluhi, has critical injuries. Reveri Maldonado said her nephew was shot in the shoulder and side of his head.

Kalaluhi was standing on a ledge outside a second-floor unit in Building 33 with fugitive Gordon Morse when Morse shot at Barroga and another officer, triggering return fire from several officers standing below about 10-12 feet away, said a police source at the scene who did not want to be identified because of the on-going investigation.

Police declined comment today on how many officers fired at the two men or how many shots were fired.

Morse, 32, was the only shooter from the ledge.

Police had been searching for Morse since April 30 when he failed to return to the Laumaka work furlough program.

Police said Morse, 32, was the driver of a stolen pickup truck that dragged an officer May 21 on Round Top Drive, the first in a series of chases, carjackings and auto thefts in the Makiki area that day.

Police went to Mayor Wright Homes at about 4:50 p.m. yesterday on a CrimeStoppers tip about Morse's whereabouts.

Morse was standing at the front door of the unit and saw officers approaching, the source said. Morse, Kalaluhi and a third man, 35-year-old Wade K. Martin, fled the unit from a back window and had made their way down to the second-floor ledge.

Officers, however, stationed in back saw them and ordered them to surrender. At that point, the source said, Martin climbed through a window into the second-floor apartment. Morse, meanwhile, kept his hands under a shirt refusing to heed orders from the officers to show his hands.

Morse fired two or three shots in the directon of Barroga, police said.

Police arrested Martin, 35, and Laura E. Tavares, 33, on hindering prosecution. They were still in custody but uncharged this morning.

Steven Rodrigues said he was cooking dinner at his Mayor Wright unit when his children told him there were "plenty cops outside." He said he ordered the children into the home while he checked what was going on.

Rodrigues also said the gunman refused to drop his weapon and fired the first shots.

"When I seen them shoot the guy, that was a good 20 shots, like firecrackers or a machine gun. They were just unloading," Rodrigues said.

Police Deputy Chief Glen Kajiyama said an investigation into the shooting is under way, but he indicated that the officers were justified in firing at the men.

Mayor Wright Homes residents began pouring out of their units when they heard the gunfire, which many mistook for firecrackers.

Police gather at the complex where a man was shot to death and an officer was wounded. Another man was taken to the hospital. Photos by Deborah Booker • The Honolulu Advertiser

"At this time the use of deadly force appears justified and our officers responded as they are trained to do," he said. "We are extremely grateful that none of our officers was seriously injured."

Kajiyama said the officers "used sound police tactics in approaching the suspect."

Residents began pouring from their homes and apartments after hearing what many thought were firecrackers.

"My first instinct (said) it was gunshots," said Steven Napu'unoa, 43, who lived at Mayor Wright Homes for about 10 years. "Never have a shooting here like this for a long time. O People like this make this place look bad."

The dead man's body was covered with a blanket after the shooting and rested on the ledge as police investigated. Morse had six felony convictions for burglary, robbery and auto theft, and police had described him as dangerous.

Violet Barroga, the police officer's mother, said she was relieved her son was alive.

According to Barroga, an emergency room doctor said her son was expected to make a complete recovery but the officer had also been injured during a fall and would need to stay at the hospital under observation.

While many residents said that the area, in particular Mayor Wright Homes, has been notorious for crime and drugs, some thought the community was improving, especially with the introduction of the Weed & Seed program in 1998.

Before the program, Pua Lane, next to Mayor Wright Homes, had a crime rate that was among the highest in the city.

When the program was implemented in the Kalihi/ Palama/ Chinatown area — the first location for Weed & Seed — crime dropped 70 percent, said Bernie Young, chairwoman of the Kalihi-Palama Neighborhood Board.

"I was really surprised to hear about (the shooting yesterday)," said Young, who has lived in Kalihi for about 40 years. "(Weed & Seed) has been awfully effective, and we're so glad they're in the area. I'm really shocked to hear about this."

Manipon, who serves as association president for Banyan Gardens, has been living in Palama for 18 years.

"It's really not as bad as it used to be," she said. "I cannot remember the last time (there was a shooting). This is a rare occasion."

Lin Abraham said she fears for the safety of her 51-year-old sister and 74-year-old mother who live in the apartment building next to the one where the shooting occurred yesterday.

In the two years they've lived there, their apartment was robbed three times, Abraham said. The last time, about a month ago, "they cleaned it out," she said. "Every (piece of) jewelry, every handbag. Everything. They just wiped them out."

She hopes that yesterday's violence will bring attention to the area, which is in dire need of help, she said.

"They should really clean up this place," she said.

"This is bad."