Yap’s Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation are currently investigating the shooting death of Yap’s acting attorney general. While this is happening, stories are being shared by families, friends, and a community that is grieving over the loss.
Rachelle Bergeron, a U.S. citizen, was reportedly shot by a single suspected shooter on Tuesday night, in Yap state where owning a gun is prohibited by statute.
In an interview with Patti Arroyo on NewsTalk K57, Julie Hartup, the executive director of the Micronesian Conservation Coalition and one of Bergeron’s close friends, described the late acting AG as very professional — someone who knew that her job could have an isolating effect. While she was prosecuting cases involving members of the Yap community, the late assistant AG did not share details of those cases, according to Hartup.
“Those things, we did not directly talk about. But I knew from the beginning, obviously because of her job, that she gets threats. But we always thought nothing of it. Because this is not characteristic of Yap at all, this is not Yap…you just would never expect this….. This is one of the last places for this to happen,” Hartup said.
Henry S. Falan, the Governor of the State of Yap, described the island’s spirit as broken by the “senseless and heinous act.”
Falan, in a statement, said he will do everything in his power to have justice prevail and to restore civility into the Yap community.
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