Honolulu Police Department, Hawaii
End of Watch: Monday, December 16, 1963
Age: 33
Tour of Duty: 5 years
Badge Number: 255
Cause of Death: Gunfire
Date of Incident: December 16, 1963
Weapon Used: Rifle; .30 caliber
Suspect Info: Sentenced to life
Officer Andrew Morales and Officer Abraham Mahiko were shot and killed at the intersection of Cooke Street and Kawaiahao Street.
As they walked up to a suspicious vehicle, the occupants opened fire, killing both. Unknown to them, the subjects had planned to rob the Nikko Cafe and Denver Grill and were waiting for the patrons to leave.
Three men, ages 20, 20, and 30, were arrested and charged with their murders a week later. A fourth suspect, age 20, was arrested on January 2, 1964, in San Francisco by FBI agents.
In 1964, one suspect was sentenced to 60 years for an unrelated robbery committed a week before the officer's murders. On April 8, 1965, that suspect and another, who both fired the fatal shots, were convicted of two counts of murder and sentenced to life without parole. Both were still in prison in 2000. The other two were allowed to plead guilty to accessory after the fact.
It was the first time in the department's history that two officers died at the same time in the line of duty.
Officer Morales was a United States Marine Corps veteran and had served with the Honolulu Police Department for five years. He was survived by his wife and three children.