HAGÅTÑA (The Guam Daily Post) — A man involved in a fight and shooting at the Paseo de Susana Park in Hagåtña surrendered himself to officers, the Guam Police Department announced Sunday.
GPD’s investigation began after reports were received of the incident Saturday, which was captured in widely shared videos. Later that day, 21-year-old Evin Babauta Pangelinan turned himself in to the police department’s Southern Precinct Command.
Videos of the incident also showed a man wielding a machete. The statement police issued Sunday did not mention any investigation of the person with the machete.
Pangelinan was subsequently booked and confined on the following charges:
• Purchasing, possessing, or carrying a firearm without a valid firearms identification.
• Concealing a firearm without a valid firearms identification.
• Transferring a firearm without a valid firearms identification.
• Unlawfully discharging a firearm.
• Behaving recklessly and committing disorderly conduct.
• Being intoxicated while under 21 years old.
“Although an arrest has been made, with the reports forwarded to the Office of the Attorney General for prosecution, this case investigation remains open and is ongoing,” GPD stated.
Viral videos depicting the incident have been circulating on social media. The investigation was assumed by GPD’s Community Crimes Task Force.
Multiple individuals were questioned around the Paseo.
Witnesses told police they saw people fighting near the basketball court and heard several gunshots coming from the same area.
A preliminary police report indicated one of the suspects was driving a green Lexus and had fled heading southbound, along with another potential suspect driving a black Hyundai Santa Fe SUV.
Following his self-surrender, Pangelinan was transferred to the Department of Corrections. Police have yet to disclose whether he was one of the two suspects who fled the scene.
Entry to Paseo will be regulated
A video of the midnight gathering shows dozens of vehicles at the large parking lot at Paseo.
In another video of that evening, a man wearing red shorts is seen waving around a machete, hitting it against the ground and causing sparks.
“I will need to close the park,” said Department of Parks and Recreation Director Roque Alcantara Sr., adding that the decision is for the safety and health of the community.
The area has been known to be a location for car owners to gather. During Covid-19, concerns were raised when videos showed trucks spinning wheels around the loop with people standing on the truck beds.
“No one was hurt at that time,” said Alcantara. “But now they’re back.… If they’re just there shooting the breeze, it’s OK. But (that) night was — the gunshots, the damaging of vehicles — this is just too much.
“If it was just a car show, people showing off their cars, then none of that stuff should be happening,” he added.
Alcantara noted that while the people gathered, other residents were at the Paseo Stadium watching a baseball game.
“Families with their children were there,” he said.
Alcantara added that he’s seen the cars there on Friday nights, but the recent incident was “the worst.”
“They burn rubber and all that and fumes are coming into the stadium. It’s like people would have to wear their masks to protect themselves from the smell,” he said.
Regarding the closure, he said, barricades will be placed around the parking area with chains closing it off. The hours will be similar to beach parks at Matapang and Ypao, where parking areas are closed off every evening and reopened in the morning.
Evin Babauta Pangelinan
