Search drags on: Police continue manhunt for man wanted in Kona shooting

HAWI — A man wanted for a shooting in Kailua-Kona has been on the lam for three days with the police pursuit stretching from Kona to North Kohala.

By Tiffany DeMasters West Hawaii Today tdemasters@westhawaiitoday.com

The Hawaii Police Department has been searching for Walter Gomes III since Wednesday evening after a woman turned up at Kona Community Hospital with a gunshot wound. Officers have opened fire on the 41-year-old on three separate occasions, once in Kona by Costco and twice in Hawi.

He escaped apprehension after disappearing into the North Kohala brush Thursday evening and has not been seen since.

Hawaii Police Maj. Robert Wagner said officers have been following up on calls all day Friday. They also responded to a possible sighting at Lowe’s in Kailua-Kona, which turned up nothing. At this point, the major added, eight officers have been put on administrative leave in connection to any one of the shooting incidents.

Thursday’s pursuit of Gomes brought officers to the typically tranquil Hawi Town. Police shot at Gomes at the Minit Stop and Ohana Fuels on Hawi Road and again a half a mile away on Akoni Pule Highway by Old Camp 17 Road after he crashed into a police cruiser. At that point, he fled on foot.

Hawi resident Elvi Irwin was in Hilo with her husband at the time the shootings occurred. After coming back to town, Irwin stayed with friends because police had shut her street down, Hoea Road, in search of Gomes.

“I was really afraid last night,” Irwin said Friday as she swept outside the Kohala Welcome Center off Akoni Pule Highway where she works a few hours a week.

Irwin wasn’t able to get home till around 9 p.m. Thursday.

“We didn’t lock our door this time,” Irwin said of her home. “Now we lock it all the time.”

When she and her husband got home, Irwin recalled cautiously going into the house, making sure no one was lurking inside.

As a Hawi resident for 12 years, Irwin said this is the first time anything like this has happened in the North Kohala town.

“It’s like a sleeping town,” she added.

Employees at the Minit Stop were still shaken by the shooting at the gas station the day before. On Friday, employees recalled how Gomes came into the business twice on Thursday. The first time he bought gas and food.

One of the employees didn’t realize who Gomes was until after he left the station. At that point, she called dispatch. Several hours later, Gomes came back to Minit Stop. Employees said he came to buy more fuel.

Recognizing Gomes and his bullet-ridden Escalade, workers called police and officers were on scene immediately.

At that time, police gave commands to Gomes, which were ignored. The 41-year-old sped away on Akoni Pule Highway toward Kawaihae. Witnesses say officers fired three to four shots as Gomes left the gas station.

Chelsey Yamamoto, 29, was brewing coffee beverages for customers at the Kohala Coffee Mill Friday morning as she recalled the moment shots were heard in the heart of Hawi.

“A customer came in and said: ‘gunshots!’” Yamamoto said. “After that everyone started going into a panic.”

Soon after, Yamamoto described Hawi as a ghost town.

With Gomes’ last sighting being in Hawi, Yamamoto said it makes it a lot scarier for the residents in the area.

Normally at the coffee shop at 5 a.m., Yamamoto said she didn’t come to open until 6 a.m. Friday, not wanting to be out in the dark alone.

Thursday night’s search brought several police officers including the Special Response Team, a helicopter and a search dog to North Kohala.

Wagner said Gomes’ vehicle was damaged in Thursday’s crash. Unless he got transportation, the belief is he is still in North Kohala. No police have been injured at this point in the search for Gomes.

Police caution the public from approaching Gomes, who they consider armed and dangerous. Instead, those with information should call the department’s non-emergency line at 935-3311 to report his whereabouts. People can also call Detective Brandon Mansur at 326-4646 ext. 301 or email at brandon.mansur@hawaiicounty.gov.

Walter Gomes III, the man police suspect in a Kona shooting case, has three criminal convictions on his record, according to the Hawaii Criminal Justice Data Center.

None of those, however, are higher than a misdemeanor.

Gomes’ most recent conviction is from November 2017, when the man was found guilty in Kona District Court of promoting a detrimental drug, third degree, a petty misdemeanor. He was fined $250.

Gomes also has two convictions from 2014.

That July, he was found guilty in Kona District Court, this time of criminal contempt of court, a misdemeanor. He was confined for two days and fined less than $100.

He was convicted in Hilo District Court that October of failure to appear, a petty misdemeanor. Gomes was sentenced to three days’ confinement.

A check of court records turned up at least 20 cases dating to 2017 that have been initiated against Walter Gomes III. In all, nearly 80 violations were counted for various traffic crimes and infractions, including the charges of contempt of court, failure to appear and drug promotion for which he was convicted.

The most cited violations were for driving without or having an improper license; no motor vehicle safety check; failure to have motor vehicle insurance; fraudulent use of license plate, decal or emblem; not registering/transferring ownership of a vehicle within 30 days; delinquent vehicle tax; and no license plate or an obstructed or dirty license plate, among others.

Not all of the cases and violations resulted in conviction, however. Five cases comprising more than a dozen violations were dismissed and prosecutors withdrew one case with two violations.

Five cases remained open, all relating to traffic infractions and crimes. He is next due in court April 3 for arraignment and plea in Hilo.

He last appeared in court on Feb. 7 before District Court Judge Margaret Masunaga in Kona, according to court records. On that date, prosecutors dismissed a charge of failure to have car insurance and he was set to return on Feb. 19 to enter his plea to driving with an improper license. He did not appear in court that day, and both cases were ultimately dismissed upon motion by prosecutors.

When he did not appear for a case on Feb. 27 in South Kohala District Court, he was reached by phone and said he was unable to appear due to personal reasons, according to court records. He was warned of a bench warrant, but none was ordered. The next hearing in the case is April 3 during which he’s expected to enter his plea to operating a car, bus, truck or van without a license and failure to have car insurance.

In another separate case with the same two charges, a $300 bench warrant was ordered March 5 when he did not appear in South Kohala District Court.