“If they do not value the lives of the police officers who were at the police station when they were shot at, then we had to leave and find a safe and secure place — because if they didn’t come for their own who would come for us?” was a comment uttered by an Emergency Medical Service (EMS) official who was disturbed that there was no immediate response by other police stations until several hours after the shooting.

As Samoa News first reported online Saturday morning, shots rang out after midnight at the Leone Substation as a drive-by shooter fired at the front of the building. 

Fortunately, the two police officers and the one dispatcher at the station were not injured. Police officers, who are not authorized to speak to the media, were shaken, and told Samoa News that when the shooting took place, the dispatcher was in one of the rooms where the bullet came right through the window.

There were four bullet holes on the front part of the station, and police have recovered all the bullets that were found inside different offices. According to people in the area, the vehicle was coming from the east heading west when the shooters opened fire at the police station. Emergency Medical Services personnel say the shooting took place between 2 and 2:30 a.m.

EMS evacuated their personnel from the substation for safety reasons, according to EMS Commander, Ifopo G. Fuapopo Avegalio, who ordered the evacuation of EMS personnel from the substation after the reported gunfire.

“Safety of our First-Responders should be a top priority, especially incidents involving weapons. Back-up response and support is critical to those officers who were in the station. Once EMS was advised of the incident, back-up support was immediately dispatched.

“I was advised by the duty commander that when EMS Rescue-One Unit returned to the Leone DPS Station from an emergency run, they were informed by the police officers at the station that there had been several gun shots fired at the station, striking the front windows of the police station,” he told Samoa News.

EMS Commander Avegalio stated that he ordered the EMS personnel to check if any of the DPS officers were in need of help, and then to evacuate the station and set up a command post in front of the Fai’ivae Guest House in Leone village.

“This area is protected by the Chiefs of Leone and the Village Aumaga, if back-up support were needed.”

At the same, he said, he ordered back-up EMS Units to respond to the Leone incident and stand-by in case DPS needed any assistance.

Avegalio also confirmed with Samoa News that EMS did not receive any calls from DPS Central or 911 about the Leone incident, and the EMS Chief considers this a “Terrorist Threat Incident.”

He also confirmed that an officer was treated at the scene later that morning for emotional distress, however the officer refused transport to the ER.

According to EMS technicians who arrived two hours after the shooting, “We came and the lights were off at the police station, so we went in, not knowing something had happened and then we were informed by a police officer that there was a drive-by.

“It was hard to believe that there was a shooting, because the police station lights were off and there were no other police officers or police officials present. You would think that with a drive-by shooting, a whole bunch of police officers would be there putting up a road block, and investigating the incident, but no, no one was there — just the Leone police station officers, who were shaken by what happened.

“There was no back up, lights were off, had there been a second drive-by, the results would’ve been devastating,” said the furious EMS personnel, who had made the call to EMS headquarters informing them of what had taken place.

The EMS personnel said that, according to the watch commander, the drive-by shooting took place between 2a.m.- 2:30a.m. and they arrived around 4a.m. There was no backup. “It almost seemed as if the officers were hiding in the police station, when they turned the lights off.”

The EMS personnel further told Samoa News that once they reported the matter to their main office, they were instructed to evacuate the Leone Substation, which they did — moving down to the Fai’ivae guest House, where the Leone chiefs and village police were standing by — until orders came in for them to report back to the Tafuna EMS Station hours later.

The EMS personnel told Samoa News that “one thing was clear — that if they [the police] do not value the lives of their brothers and sisters in arms, police officers who were at the police station when they were shot at — then we had to leave and find a safe and secure place, because, who would come for us?”

Samoa News noted that the Criminal Investigation Division launched their investigation, around 6a.m., half an hour after Samoa News arrived at the scene and four hours after the drive-by shooting.

While at the scene, Samoa News was told that there are witnesses who will give statements to the police regarding the incident. One witness is believed to have heard the gun shots and he ran out of his house to see the vehicle speeding off.

Efforts to obtain comments from the Commissioner of Public Safety, William Haleck, were unsuccessful as of press time, as Samoa News understands that he’s off island.

More photos in slideshow.