Gunfire from police during a scuffle with a 17-year-old student who was shot and injured led to anxious moments at Roosevelt High School early Tuesday, when authorities put the campus on lockdown and parents scrambled to find out what happened and whether their children were safe.
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The student was shot just after 8:30 a.m. by a police officer after allegedly attacking three officers with a kitchen knife as they were attempting to take him into custody as a runaway, police said.
The Punchbowl-area high school, with 1,390 students and 150 faculty and staff, was placed on lockdown for 90 minutes while police investigated. Classes were called off at 10 a.m. as the campus was declared a crime scene.
Initial reports said only that there was a shooting on campus and as many as two people had non-life-threatening injuries. First reports were unclear about whether the person who fired the shots was a student.
At 9:11 a.m. school officials sent out a text message to parents saying, "The situation at Roosevelt is under control. The Honolulu Police Department is wrapping up their investigation. Again, the situation is under control. Please remain calm."
Official word from police about what was happening didn’t come until after students were released, and many said they had no idea what was happening. Others were able to send text messages to worried parents that they were safe.
During the lockdown, sophomore Rockeysha Sula said she was scared while sitting in her Hawaiian language class. "We heard a couple of gunshots," she said. "Everybody was kind of worried, trying to stay quiet and calm," she said.
Senior Spencer Jara, who was in band class, said he was shocked to hear a shooting occurred on campus — or at any school in Hawaii.
"You figure you’re on a little island, everything is peaceful," said Jara as he stood on a grassy area outside of the school’s track field waiting for his parents to pick him up.
The state Department of Education said Roosevelt will have support personnel and counselors available for students when classes resume today.
The student, who was shot in the wrist, was taken by paramedics in serious condition to the hospital, Emergency Medical Services reported. He was arrested on three counts of first-degree attempted murder.
The police officer who fired the shots, a 10-year veteran, was placed on three-day administrative leave as is policy when an officer is involved in a shooting.
The DOE said the boy was a non-active student registered at Roosevelt, meaning he had not yet begun attending classes. A DOE official said the department could not discuss his status because he is a juvenile.
The teen’s mother, Shereen Narvaes, said last night the shooting marked the second time her son, who is mentally ill, has been a victim of police brutality.
Narvaes said her son has been diagnosed under a broad spectrum of psychiatric illnesses that includes schizophrenia, and that for the last year she has been trying to get him treatment.
"All my son was doing was registering for school, and they didn’t give him that chance," Narvaes said of the Roosevelt shooting. Instead of calling the appropriate personnel, they called police, she said.
Narvaes said her son reacted the way he did at the Roosevelt campus because previously, while on the Pearl City High School campus, police subdued him with a Taser and put him into a straitjacket. She said he subsequently suffered a breakdown and has never been the same.
"Now my son is a victim of police enforcement, and he got shot," she said.
About two weeks ago, Narvaes said, her son had been awaiting a psychiatric review to determine fitness to stand trial for misdemeanor charges when he escaped from the Queen’s Medical Center, where he had been admitted by court order. He later also escaped from a facility operated by Hale Kipa, a social service agency serving at-risk/high-risk youth.
Maj. Richard Robinson, commander of HPD’s Criminal Investigation Division, said police arrived at the counselor’s office near the Punchbowl campus at about 8:30 a.m. Tuesday. The student became "combative" and struck two of the officers, Robinson said.
Police said in a written statement that "upon seeing the officers enter the school office, the 17-year-old male quickly became combative."
"The suspect took out a large knife, a struggle ensued, and the suspect punched and slashed at the officers," the statement said. "One of the officers fired two shots, striking the suspect once." The other bullet missed the teen.
At that point a counselor and an aide fled the room, which police described as a "narrow" room with a desk.
Robinson said during the struggle the boy did not reach for the officer’s gun.
The three officers sustained minor lacerations, Robinson said. They did not need medical attention and were treated at the scene.
Police said that one of the officers has been with the force for 12 years, and the other two were 10-year veterans, including the one who fired the shots.
Tenari Maafala, president of the State of Hawaii Organization of Police Officers, said the officers reacted appropriately and that the situation was "very dangerous … especially with a weapon of that size."
Maafala, who was at the scene as commander of the Peer Support Unit, said officers are trained to shoot to stop the threat, no matter the person’s age.
The email alert and automated calls sent out by the DOE went to phone numbers listed as emergency contacts. The same alert was issued to neighboring schools to warn them of the situation.
"Incidents like this are very rare in Hawaii, however, our partnership with the Honolulu Police Department on safety drills played a major role in the success of today’s lockdown," Schools Superintendent Kathryn Matayoshi said.
Public schools conduct regular safety drills in coordination with HPD to ensure students and staff are prepared to respond to emergencies.
"Today’s situation was handled in a manner that caused the least disruption on campus, and it is a testament to our teachers, faculty and students," Department of Education Complex Area Superintendent Ruth Silberstein said.
The text message sent to parents by school officials was meant to convey that "parents should stay away from the scene," said Donalyn Dela Cruz, spokeswoman for the DOE.
The DOE tweeted that students were being released for the day at 10 a.m.
Jeanette Uyeda, principal of Roosevelt High, said the staff knew what to do after holding a lockdown drill last year. Teachers turned off the lights, closed the windows and locked the doors, and the students stayed in their classrooms until school was released.
"I’m just thankful that we have a very good staff, very good faculty," she said. "Everybody worked as a team, and it came out as well as it did because of that."
She said the school doesn’t have metal detectors and doesn’t think it would help because the school buildings are spread out on campus. "I think security did everything they could," she said.
Student Kodie Akamine said she was in the counselor’s office in the main adminstration building when she heard gunshots.
Irma Leal said her daughter Mercedes, a senior, phoned to say that she was OK at about the time Leal received the automated message from the school.
The school’s parking lot on Mott-Smith Drive was cordoned off with cones and yellow tape, which also extended around the auditorium area.
Faith Kalamau King, parent of a freshman, said she left her job as soon as she heard the news on Facebook, heading to the school to make sure her son Kahaku was all right.
"I want to make sure he was OK," she said. "To me he’s not OK until I see him in my arms. My heart is beating so fast. There have been so many shootings of this kind on the mainland."
Students streamed out of the school after they were released building by building, but were allowed to leave the campus only through the football field. Nehoa Street was jammed with cars as anxious parents came to get their children.
Gabriel Nieblas, a freshman, said a vice principal came to her classroom at 9:50 a.m. to tell her social studies instructor to escort her class to the football field, where they were released for the day.
Star-Advertiser staff writers Rob Shikina, Leila Fujimori and Rosemarie Bernardo contributed to this report.
