Mental exam ordered for man shot by police officer

The 14-year police veteran who shot a man allegedly wielding a knife as he approached the officer last week was shot and seriously injured in the line of duty nine years ago.

According to court documents filed by police, Officer Joshua Gouveia is the Hilo patrol officer who shot 41-year-old Jordan Gino Cacatian on Aug. 23 in the 100 block of Keawe Street in downtown Hilo.

Cacatian is charged with attempted first-degree assault against a law-enforcement officer, attempted second-degree assault, and first-degree terroristic threatening.

Officers were called by a person at a Keawe Street business after Cacatian was seen repeatedly cutting himself with a knife. According to police, Cacatian was uncooperative when officers ordered him to drop the knife.

Body-camera footage was released by police showing Cacatian advancing on Gouveia despite repeated orders by the officer to stop and drop the knife, and warnings that he would be shot if he didn’t comply. The footage was blurry and a knife was difficult to see.

Gouveia shot Cacatian twice in the leg after several warnings, and another officer used a Taser to immobilize Cacatian while he was on the ground.

Police say Cacatian dropped the knife after being tased. He was taken into custody, and a knife was recovered, according to documents.

Cacatian was hospitalized after being shot but has since been released.

Gouveia is on paid administrative leave as police investigate the incident.

The documents aren’t clear about the identity of the officer who deployed the Taser, but Officers Oliver Agustin and Coley Rowe were present at the scene.

During Cacatian’s initial court appearance Monday, Hilo District Judge Jeffrey Hawk ordered a mental examination and ordered Cacatian to return to court on Oct. 25.

He also maintained Cacatian’s bail at $30,000.

On the night of Jan 2, 2013, Gouveia and Officer Garrett Hatada were shot in their lower extremities in an armed confrontation with a suspect in the parking lot of Pono Place, the site of the former Green Onion cocktail lounge, on Kilauea Avenue in Hilo.

Both Gouveia and Hatada recovered from their wounds and returned to duty.

A jury returned guilty verdicts of attempted first-degree murder against Keaka Martin in the shooting of Gouveia, and first-degree assault in the shooting of Hatada.

Martin was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole plus 10 years in prison for being the trigger man in the police shootings.

Email John Burnett at jburnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com.