HONOLULU — On Wednesday, two suspects were charged with murder following a deadly shooting at a cockfight in Maili, according to the Honolulu Police Department.
Jacob Borge, 23, and a 16-year-old, who we are not naming because he is a juvenile, were both charged with first- and second-degree murder, three counts of attempted murder and firearms charges, police said. Bail was set at $2 million.
The two suspects turned themselves in to police Tuesday night.
Two people died in a dispute that started Friday night, and three were injured when shots were fired at the end of a cockfight in Maili, according to our news partner, the Honolulu Star-Advertiser. The two people killed were identified by the paper's sources as Gary Rabellizsa, 34, and Cathy Rabellizsa, 59. The three wounded men are aged 38, 40 and 57.
The Honolulu Star-Advertiser reported police are investigating whether the shooting started over a dispute about who might have tipped off the U.S. Department of Justice as part of an active drug investigation on the Waianae Coast.
Although illegal in Hawaii since 1884, the fights between roosters with blades affixed to their legs have remained a part of life in the islands. Many cockfighting fans claim the blood sport is part of local Hawaii culture.
Some in Hawaii worry that violence linked to cockfighting will grow more volatile in a state that previously had largely escaped the scourge of gun violence seen elsewhere in the U.S.
Saturday's shooting was among the worst since 1999 when seven workers were shot and killed at a Xerox Corp. warehouse. Other shootings that grabbed headlines were a man who killed a taxi driver and a couple taking photos at a Honolulu scenic lookout in 2006 and a highway shooting spree that left one woman dead and two others injured in 2011.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
Michelle Broder Van Dyke covers the Hawaiian Islands for Spectrum News Hawaii. Email her at michelle.brodervandyke@charter.com.
