August 12, 2022
By Tammye McDuff
The Hawaii City Council of Gardens recently received a letter from the ABC Unified School District stating that due to incidents at the annual carnival in 2019, the district will not allow Fedde High School and Sports Complex to host the city’s annual event.
In 2019, the carnival was moved, by order of then-Mayor Myra Maravilla, from Furgueson MS to Fedde MS. The city also added a beer garden.
VIDEO: Gang War at Hawaiian Gardens Carnival Last night, the Sheriff put the Carnival on lockdown
On one carnival night, HMG-CN was sent pictures and videos of the Sheriff holding a shotgun and told of a possible shooting at the carnival; callers also said the carnival was on lockdown for over an hour.
A later statement from the city indicated it was a gang fight and no shots were fired.
However, Lakewood Sheriff’s Sergeant Maese stated at the council meeting that a handgun was confiscated from a young male, “whether or not he was going to use it on the premises, we don’t know.”
Maese continued: “There was a small fight with high school students, in my opinion, it was not a gang fight. There were some collaborators from local gangs, but that blew up pretty quickly. Approximately 15 minutes after the juvenile incident, there was a pursuit involving a drunk driver unrelated to any carnival incident. It ended up at the carnival and we had officers rush in to protect those residents waiting in line. The helicopter was involved in this incident and we closed the gates for 36 minutes.”
At the next meeting, the Hawaiian Gardens Municipal Council heard from angry residents.
Former Mayor Renaldo Rodriguez said, “If you go back to when former Mayor Myra Maravilla insisted that carnivals move from Ferguson to Fedde, many of the residents were against it.”
Ferguson is located in the middle of the community and is easily accessible.
“Maravilla insisted on moving and adding a beer garden. She also threatened to sue the school district over the action. It soured our relationship with the school district.”
Rodriquez continued, “ABCUSD Board Vice President Olga Rios commented at their board meeting about the alleged shooting and how scary it was. I also heard that many residents had tried to contact the municipality about the police activity and were told that nothing important had happened.”
Resident Joe Cabrera became so angry that he left the rooms. “This is disinformation, we were just told that money was made and that was reason enough to ruin our children’s lives.”
The letter was placed on the agenda, but it was withdrawn with Mayor Luis Roa saying, “Unfortunately, we have not had a chance to discuss the situation with ABC, we are prioritizing meeting with the school district at this time. .
