The search for an armed man responsible for a mass shooting at a Maili cockfight around midnight Friday that killed two people continued Monday as police promised to step up gambling enforcement in the area.
According to sources with knowledge of the shooting, one scenario being investigated is that the killing of Gary Rabellizsa, 34, and Cathy Rabellizsa, 59, resulted from a dispute between rival factions about who might have tipped off the U.S. Department of Justice as part of an active drug investigation on the Waianae Coast.
On Sunday, Gary Rabellizsa was identified by his father, who shares the same name, Gary W. Rabellizsa, 54, and lives on Kaukamana Road. The Department of the Medical Examiner did not release any information about the two victims Monday.
A search warrant executed by federal agents recently on a Waianae property resulted in several people being detained and questioned before they were released, sparking a search for the person who tipped off authorities, sources told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser.
At the weekend shooting in Maili, a group of men at the cockfight allegedly confronted people they believed were responsible for tipping off federal agents, and a fight that began with fists ended when the shooter pulled out a gun and fatally shot two people and wounded three men, ages 38, 40 and 57.
The Honolulu Police Department did not reply to questions about the possible tie between the shooting and the federal drug investigation. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration declined comment. The Federal Bureau of Investigation did not respond to Star-Advertiser requests for comment.
HPD declined requests to interview Police Chief Arthur “Joe” Logan and the major in charge of the Narcotics/Vice Division.
Police also did not respond to a request for body-worn camera footage from officers who responded to the shooting. HPD first notified the public at 1:21 a.m. Saturday via an email to the news media. An online listing of active police dispatch calls reads, “87-100 block of Kaukamana Road. Murder. HPD on scene. Investigation ongoing.”
Over the weekend, police said they were looking for a “local male” in his 20s who is considered armed and dangerous. They said a fight broke out around midnight Friday among a group of males at the end of the cockfight, shots were fired and the five victims, who were nearby, were struck.
A spokesperson for the U.S. attorney’s office declined comment when asked about possible assistance from the U.S. Department of Justice to HPD with the investigation. He also declined comment on the possibility that developments in an ongoing federal drug case could have led to retaliation and violence on the Waianae Coast.
“We will not confirm or dispute the accuracy of your representations, as to do either would require disclosure of non-public information,” said Assistant U.S. Attorney Elliot Enoki in a statement to the Star-Advertiser.
HPD released a statement from Logan by email Monday afternoon saying that police “will be stepping up illegal gambling enforcement, to include increased police presence, following this weekend’s fatal shootings in Maili.”
“No arrest has been made in the case, and the investigation is continuing,” Logan said in the statement. “Cockfighting cases are difficult to investigate for multiple reasons. The groups involved are highly organized and tight-knit and conduct the events on private property. Neighbors are also reluctant to get involved for fear of retaliation. While we do receive some tips, they are typically anonymous without a contact number. Many of the tips are called in after the event has occurred. While some investigations were initiated, no arrests were made.”
Cockfighting investigations are primarily handled by HPD’s Narcotics/Vice Division, which also investigates drug and human trafficking cases and illegal game rooms, Logan said in the statement. In 2022 the division executed 32 gambling search warrants resulting in the arrest of 34 people and the seizure of 149 gambling devices, the statement said. The officers also executed 11 human trafficking search warrants and arrested 16 people on human trafficking offenses.
In an interview with the Star-Advertiser on Monday, Gov. Josh Green expressed support for the Honolulu police detectives working on the case, Logan and Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi.
Green said that despite the largest mass shooting in Hawaii in years, the state has among the toughest gun laws in the country and is safe for residents and visitors.
The governor urged residents and visitors to avoid risky situations and shared advice that he tells his children: “Bad things happen in bad circumstances. … You don’t go to locations where people are doing illegal things.”
“Gun violence is a plague. … I immediately felt that this particular shooting had to be connected to gambling and addiction, which in my experience, most violence in Hawaii has been connected to those things. I really worry about the connection between drugs and violence. I grew up basically as an adult on the Big Island, and there was a lot of chicken fighting going on and always a lot of potential violence, so it doesn’t surprise me,” he said.
“In this case, two people are dead and three others are injured, and it won’t surprise me if later on we find out that everyone was participating in the illegal activity,” he said. “But that’s no excuse for violence against one another. Until we address the underlying health care crisis that is addiction, we’re going to see violence. We need to do everything we can — it’s not going to be perfect — to help people get over their addiction and also support the police to bust these activities.”
Green said Hawaii needs a statewide system for keeping the public informed about mass shootings and searches for armed suspects wanted for murder, such as one the state Department of Public Safety uses to track prison escapees and captures.
Blangiardi echoed Green’s support of Honolulu police and said he has confidence in “HPD’s investigation to bring this assailant under apprehension as soon as possible.”
“I want to support our chief of police and how he chooses to conduct investigations,” he said.
State Sen. Maile Shimabukuro, who represents the Waianae Coast, told the Star-Advertiser on Monday that she and state Reps. Cedric Asuega Gates and Darius K. Kila invite the public to a vigil for the victims at 5:30 p.m. Thursday at Maili Beach Park.
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Star-Advertiser staff writers Kevin Knodell and Leila Fujimori contributed to this report.
Correction: A previous version of this story misidentified the property owner as the Frances A. Gendrano Trust and gave an improper property description.
