A man shot and critically injured by police responding to a domestic disturbance at a Kalihi Valley home Friday is scheduled to go on trial on a felony burglary charge next month.
Ralph Riveira Jr., 35, was granted supervised release by a Circuit Court judge into the custody of his mother, Nadeen Lane, at a hearing in December.
On Friday, police said, Riveira was fighting with Lane on the front lawn of her Machado Street home at about 11 a.m. when the first officer arrived and was approached by the suspect. Riveira threatened the officer with a foot-long metal stake raised over him as he advanced, at which point the patrolman fired at him several times, police said.
After Riveira was shot, Lane picked up the stake and also threatened the officer, police said.
Riveira remained in critical condition at the Queen’s Medical Center Friday night. Lane was arrested and was being held on suspicion of terroristic threatening.
The shooting happened on the front lawn of the house at 1618 Machado St., police said. Police said Riveira was in the yard with his mother and her husband when the first officer arrived. Inside were Riveira’s girlfriend, their baby and Riveira’s sister.
A police source said HPD initially believed Riveira was shot at least three times; two neighbors told the Star-Advertiser they heard five shots.
The same police source said the stake used as a weapon by Riveira appeared to be one used to pitch tents. The officer who fired the shots was the first one on the scene and had gotten out of his car before firing at the approaching man, the source said. A second "cover" officer arrived after the shots were fired, the source said.
At a news conference Friday afternoon, officers would only say Riveira was fired upon several times.
Police Deputy Chief Dave Kajihiro said Riveira was approaching and "within a few feet" of the officer when the patrolman fired.
"In this case the situation was so volatile and so dynamic that, unfortunately, deadly force was necessary," Kajihiro said.
The officer who fired the shots, a 24-year veteran assigned to the Kalihi station, was placed on administrative leave, which is standard practice after a police shooting, Kajihiro said. An internal affairs investigation has also been launched by the Professional Standards Office as is common procedure, he said.
Domestic cases are among the dangerous situations police must respond to, Kajihiro said, adding that beat officers respond to these volatile situations on a daily basis.
"With both parties emotions are high," he said. "Officers may be addressing one party and affecting an arrest, and the other party, although they were fighting (among themselves) earlier, might come after the officers, so it’s very, very dangerous."
A neighbor, who asked not to be identified for fear of retribution, said Lane and several of her children and their children live in the home. The neighbor said he heard shouting coming from Lane’s house shortly before 11 but that the sounds were drowned out by students on the playground during recess at nearby Kalihi Uka Elementary School. The neighbor said he was monitoring on his computer the closure of New York stock trading at 11:01 a.m. when he heard five shots.
A family member in the driveway of the home confirmed the identities of Riveira and Lane but declined further comment.
Kajihiro said HPD responded to two calls at the home in 2012.
Riveira has seven convictions, six of them felonies. He was scheduled for trial in April in a first-degree burglary case, according to court documents.
Circuit Judge Richard Perkins released Riveira to the custody of his mother in December on the condition he maintain mental health treatment, Circuit Court minutes said.
On Dec. 6 Riveira pleaded not guilty in that case, and his attorney asked the court to allow supervised release.
Perkins questioned Riveira’s mother "as to defendant’s mental health issues," court minutes said.
"She noted he is in treatment and has been involved with the church for the last 10 months noting this incident (the burglary) happened in February," according to court minutes.
Over the state’s objection, the judge allowed Riveira to go free on supervised release with the terms of standard and special conditions, which included his release to his mother at 1618 Machado St.
Further, "you must maintain mental health treatment at own expense until clinically discharged," court minutes said.
The trial was scheduled for February, but a judge granted his request to have the trial moved to a later date.
Riveira was convicted of second-degree theft in 2008 for a 2004 incident. He was sentenced to a five-year term.
He was also convicted in 1996 on five counts of first-degree burglary, for which he was sentenced to five years’ imprisonment each but which were to run at the same time.
His parole had been revoked in 2002 for a parole violation.
Thursday’s shooting happened one block from Kalihi Uka Elementary School, but Principal Laura Ahn said police notified her that the school did not need to be put in "lockdown" mode. "They said they had it under control," Ahn said.
This was the second time police have shot at a suspect this year. On Jan. 15 Schofield soldier Gregory Gordon was shot and killed by officers as he rammed his pickup truck into patrol cars to escape capture.
