Hawaii officials comb crime scene
Chief mourns for two police officers
Authorities in Hawaii were sifting through the debris of burned-out homes Monday, looking for the body of the man who fatally shot two police officers in a chaotic scene in a Honolulu neighborhood.
Officers responding to a stabbing at the home in Waikiki Beach were aiding the victim when police say resident Jarolsav Hanel opened fire, killing one of the officers. One of a group of officers who rushed to the wounded officer’s aid also was killed by gunfire, police said.
Moments later, the home was engulfed in a fire that also destroyed seven homes before it was doused.
Honolulu Police Chief Susan Ballard said investigators suspect Hanel and two women were inside the house when it burned, igniting numerous homes around it. It could take days for authorities to process evidence and recover any remains, Ballard said.
The officers who died were Tiffany Enriquez, a seven-year veteran who was the first officer shot, and Kaulike Kalama, a nine-year police veteran. Ballard said she had worked closely with the two officers for five years before being named chief.
“They were like my kids,” she said. “When they first came into the department up until I made chief, I knew them personally.”
Hawaii Gov. David Ige said the entire state mourns them.
“As we express our condolences to their families, friends and colleagues, let us also come together to help and support those who have been forever changed by this tragedy,” Ige said on Twitter.
Enriquez, who was from Guam, leaves behind three daughters and a grandson. Longtime friend Kiko CruzSantos said he’s known her since they attended high school together. Cruz-Santos said Enriquez expressed interest in joining the Honolulu Police Department eight years ago and got in on the first try.
“The whole time I’ve known her to be determined and dedicated to whatever she put her mind to,” he said.
Enriquez also was a member of the Air Force Reserves and was a bodybuilder. But family was always her priority, CruzSantos said.
“She loved her kids more than anything and wanted to be a good role model for them,” he said. “Her determination was one thing, but her dedication to her family and friends was what made her who she was.”
Hanel was living in the home of Lois Cain, according to court documents. Cain recently sought to have Hanel evicted, and a neighbor said she saw Cain being put into an ambulance with knife wounds.
Jonathan Burge, Hanel’s attorney since 2015, said Hanel had mental issues and believed the government was watching him and tapping his phone. But Burge said he had not thought Hanel was capable of “such extreme violence.”
Hanel had lived in Cain’s home for free in exchange for handyman work. Burge said three of Hanel’s neighbors had obtained temporary restraining orders against him, and Cain was trying to have him evicted because she was moving back to Hawaii and had to live there herself.
“I heard she had just filed for the eviction on Friday,” Burge told KHON-TV. “Maybe she was serving it to him and it pushed him over the edge.”