By Troy Torres
No one has yet been arrested in connection with Thursday afternoon's confrontation and shooting incident involving several police officers and an unknown number of occupants in a Dodge Challenger.
"Still ongoing," police spokesman Sgt. Paul Tapao answered in response to Kandit's request for an update on the investigation. "No arrest yet."
"Preliminary reports suggest that at around 12:30 pm, an officer assigned to GPD’S Highway Patrol Division noticed a stolen Dodge Challenger on Dairy Road, in Mangilao," read a public statement from GPD hours after video footage of the confrontation and shooting circulated widely on social media following the incident. "Additional units arrived and were momentarily able to detain the vehicle while on Dairy Road, as officers on scene instructed the occupants to exit the vehicle. Preliminary reports further suggest that the operator of the vehicle refused to comply and began to rev the engine, as the Dodge Challenger accelerated towards an officer who fired a shot at the approaching Dodge Challenger which fled towards Route 15, in Mangilao."
Sources close to the home, where the car was found prior to the confrontation, said the home is owned by the family of a police officer and others with criminal histories.
"The police officer is a good one," the source familiar with the family said. "She's really trying to clean up that house."
Residents along the road also confirmed police canvassed a neighborhood off Dairy Road prior to the incident looking for Rico Pereira, the 25-year-old who has been missing since May 18, 2021. One of the homes canvassed off Dairy Road belongs to family members of the Dairy Road home, where the Challenger was first found Thursday. A neighboring home, also owned by this family, was raided by federal law enforcement April 8.
The two videos that circulated widely show the Challenger escaping through an opening in a police blockade along Dairy Road during the standoff. One of the videos shows an officer shooting at the Challenger as it was getting away.
The GPD statement from Thursday stated no injuries were reported.
"The stolen Dodge Challenger was later located by a home along Matsumiyu St. in Pagat Mangilao," the Thursday GPD statement read. "The vehicle was later impounded relative to the case investigation."
Anyone with information about this case is asked to call 472-8911. If you'd like to provide information anonymously, please call 477-HELP (4357).
