Investigation leads to “apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound” police say

May 22, 2010 – Waimea, Hawaii

UPDATE – Police report that during an autopsy conducted Monday (May 24), the victim of a fatal gunshot wound inflicted Friday (May 21) was identified as 37-year-old Raleigh Freitas of Kamuela.

Police say the investigation and autopsy determined that Freitas died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. The case will be reclassified from a coroner’s inquest to a suicide.

Police had been seeking Freitas in connection with an armed robbery at a pharmacy on Kawaihae Road earlier Friday. Detectives from the Area II Criminal Investigations Section are continuing the investigation into the robbery.

FIRST REPORT

Police are reporting new, deadly developments in an investigation over a Waimea pharmacy robbery that occurred yesterday, and are also warning the public about the potentially dangerous prescription drugs that were stolen in the incident.

Police reported the robbery on Kawaihae Road yesterday, and say that the ensuing investigation led to the name of the suspect. Officers arrested the suspect’s wife, 34-year-old Rochelle Freitas of Kamuela, who had been inside the pharmacy attempting to fill a prescription minutes before the robbery.

“While officers were searching for her husband”, a Hawaii PD media release said, “police received a 911 call reporting a man with a gunshot wound at a residence later determined to be the Freitas home. Responding officers found the victim dead of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.

An autopsy has been scheduled for Monday (May 24) to determine the man’s identity and the exact cause of his death.”

Police say Rochelle Freitas has been released while detectives from the Area II Criminal Investigations Section continue the investigation.

Meanwhile, police are warning the public about the drugs that may have been taken in the robbery. During the knife-point robbery, the man demanded Fentynyl and Oxycontin. After the pharmacist told him that the establishment did not carry those drugs, the suspect opened a drawer and removed numerous controlled substances. Police did not say what was taken in the media release, but warned that the drugs were potentially dangerous, and were not legally dispensed.

Fighting the public health threat of fake drugs