HONOLULU — A corrections officer charged with murder in the shooting death of his mother was crying next to a gun safe in the garage when an officer arrived at the Waianae home, court documents said.
A judge ordered that Anthony Pereira be held on $1 million bail on charges including second-degree and kidnapping. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Wednesday. According to court records, his case is referred to the public defender’s office. However, an attorney had not yet been assigned to represent him as of Tuesday.
On Friday afternoon, a woman ran into the Waianae police station, pounded frantically on the safety glass, saying repeatedly, “he shot her and he’s coming after me,” according to probable cause documents filed in court. Only identifying him as “Tony,” the woman said, “I was held at the house by Maili beach and he shot her.”
The woman’s relationship to Pereira is not yet clear, said Dave Koga, a spokesman for the Honolulu prosecutor’s office.
When an officer arrived at the Farrington Highway home, a crying and distraught Pereira raised an AR-15 assault rifle, but didn’t point it at the officer, the documents said. He eventually put the weapon down, but appeared agitated when other officers arrived and picked it up again.
As officers tried to coax him into putting the rifle down, “Anthony then suddenly appeared to be gasping for air and he started spitting up and foaming at the mouth then he began to lie back in the corner and appeared to be having convulsions,” the documents said.
About 10 feet away, an officer found Barbara Pereira lying on the garage floor, dead with gunshot wounds to her head, the documents said.
Officers found other guns, including a pistol on top of table near the body.
Later at a hospital, an officer found crystal methamphetamine in Anthony Pereira’s pocket.
Pereira worked as a guard at Oahu Community Correctional Center, but hasn’t reported for work since April 10 and has been on unpaid leave since, the state Department of Public Safety said.
“Our concern is with the grieving family at this time,” Public Safety Director Nolan Espinda said in a statement. “The Department of Public Safety is conducting an internal administrative investigation and will continue to monitor and assist the Honolulu police with their criminal investigation into the devastating matter.”
Pereira was initially held at OCCC and later transferred to Halawa Correctional Facility, the department said.
