A police officer with gun drawn stands vigil outside G.B.’s house during the long hours of the armed man’s reign of terror in Chalan Kanoa.
AROUND this time of year, 1983, Saipan’s biggest news story was about a repeat offender with a submachine gun and other firearms. What followed was a car chase, a shootout, and a dead cop.
According to Marianas Variety, it all started on a quiet, “normal” Monday morning. “Little did the people of Saipan expect that day would witness one of the island’s most violent civil dramas which would end in the tragic and brutal murder of a police officer.”
At the center of the approaching maelstrom was G.B., who was due to appear in court for parole violation. He was on probation for a previous assault and battery conviction when he held a razor to his girlfriend’s neck. His police record included three assault and battery convictions.
At 9 a.m., G.B. met with his lawyer at the public defender’s office, and told him that he, G.B., was going to the restroom before heading to the courtroom. The lawyer went ahead into the courtroom. When asked by the judge where his client was, the lawyer went to look for G.B. “He returned and told [the judge] that [G.B.] was nowhere to be seen. [The judge] ordered a warrant of arrest for [G.B.] and set bail at $10,000.” (Worth about $30,000 today.)
At around 9:30 a.m., a police sergeant and a detective went to G.B.’s house in Chalan Kanoa to issue the bench warrant and bring him to court. But G.B. was not at his house. From 10 a.m. to 12 noon, the police chief himself and a police lieutenant joined the search for G.B. They met one of his neighbors “who told them that he had seen [G.B.] drinking beer and carrying a .38 and a rifle. The neighbor said [G.B.] had fired several shots.” The police proceeded to G.B.’s house, but he was not there. They continued to search for him.
Police Officer R. was walking through the door of a neighbor’s house when he saw G.B. pointing a gun at him, the police officer, who managed to escape. Police Lt. S.N. approached the house and pleaded with G.B. to surrender. G.B. fired several shots into the air and said he would return to the courthouse if the police officers surrounding the area would leave. The police lieutenant entered the house alone and talked to G.B., who insisted that the police leave the area before he would come out.
“Several minutes later, [Police Lt. S.N. and G.B.] appeared at the door and approached [S.N.’s] car. [G.B.] was holding a submachine gun at the ready and got inside the car, only to get out again…when he saw that the police were still there. [S.N.] still tried to persuade [G.B.] to surrender, but [G.B.] went back into his own house with [S.N.] following and still pleading.”
“During the course of the afternoon and evening,” Variety reported, “[G.B.] or [S.N.] appeared several times at the door and then retreated inside the house again. Neighbors and friends were seen going in and out of [the] house and a man was seen carrying several cans of beer into the house. Police used a neighbor’s telephone to communicate with” G.B.
At about 11 in the evening, “a 1981 silver Mitsubishi Plymouth Arrow sedan appeared at [G.B.’s] residence.” It was a government-owned vehicle, and the driver was V.P., G.B.’s first cousin. V.P. went into the house and was there with G.B. and several family members for about two hours. G.B. then came out of the house and got into the car with V.P. “The car sped off toward Texas Road. Officers [A.Q.] and [L.T.] gave chase and several shots were fired from the Plymouth Arrow.” The officers chased the car until it stopped near a chapel where gunfire was exchanged. Two shots from the suspect’s car hit the police Datsun 210 station wagon. One of the officers, A.Q., was fatally wounded. L.T., the driver of the police car, “opened the door, dropped to the ground and fired back, hitting the rear, the right side and the rear side window of the Plymouth Arrow,” which then sped back toward Texas Road while L.T. took his wounded partner to the hospital.
The search for G.B. and V.P. would continue until 6:30 a.m. when V.P. turned himself in at the police station. He said he had dropped G.B. back at G.B.’s house at about 3:30 a.m. At about 7 a.m., G.B.’s father appeared at the police station and said his son was at home and wanted to negotiate with the police. Police surrounded the house and another long standoff ensued. At around noon, five police officers from Guam arrived on the scene to assist. At this point, G.B. threatened to kill himself. But he was “persuaded against that and was assured that no one would shoot if he came out peacefully.” At about 2:30 p.m., the Department of Public Safety chief told G.B. that he had 30 minutes to make up his mind. Fifteen minutes later, G.B. said he would surrender. He asked for time to change his clothes. At around 3:05 p.m., he stepped out and “30 police officers rushed in, surrounded [G.B.] and handcuffed him.”
At about 4:45 p.m., Variety said, “the drama had played itself out…. [G.B.] appeared in court with [two lawyers] of the public defender’s office.” G.B. was charged with first degree murder, illegal possession of a firearm, illegal possession of ammunition, and the use of a firearm in the commission of a crime.” The judge set a $250,000 (worth over $770,000 today) cash bail for G.B. and $50,000 (worth about $154,000 today) for his cousin, V.P., who was charged with aiding and abetting in the commission of a first degree murder.
Variety also reported that the police were “somewhat baffled that the submachine gun that [G.B.] was seen carrying and shooting was not in the house when police searched it after [G.B.] gave himself up. Another search in the house where [G.B.] barricaded himself for more than 24 hours was conducted…but police again failed to come up with anything.” The acting attorney general said they would not press charges if the missing gun was turned in before the end of the week.
For his part, the DPS chief criticized a news story published by a Guam newspaper, which stated that he ordered his officers to shoot G.B. “when they had a chance but policemen decided against that when [G.B.] continued to point the submachine gun at [Police Lt. S.N.].” “Not once did I give the order to any of my officers to shoot” G.B., the DPS chief said. He added that S.N. was not held hostage by G.B. “My men followed my orders to the letter,” the DPS chief said. “They performed like the professional policemen that they are not like a bunch of trigger-happy cops as the [Guam newspaper] story suggests.” He also said that he wanted only one police officer from Guam who was experienced in the use of tear gas. It was the governor’s office that asked Guam to send over five police officers.
“A similar situation happened in Guam recently and with all the equipment and personnel that the Guam police had at [their] disposal the outcome of that was pretty messy,” the DPS chief said. He was referring to an incident in Guam “in which three men shot dead a police officer and several civilians, and wounded a number of others then barricaded themselves inside [a] hotel. One of the suspects was found dead and another police officer was seriously wounded during the stakeout.”
Forty years ago.
Send feedback to editor@mvariety.com
