A 47-year-old man was shot by Honolulu police officers and is in serious condition after he allegedly shot at them Sunday while fleeing on foot from his vehicle, which police were investigating as stolen.
Honolulu Police Chief Arthur “Joe”
Logan, who held a news conference at Honolulu Police Headquarters on Beretania Street, said officers from an HPD crime suppression unit saw a Honda CRV commit a traffic violation near Aloha Stadium around 1:30 a.m. and after checking the license plate determined that the vehicle had been stolen from the Sandy Beach area on October 14.
Logan said officers radioed information about the vehicle, and crime prevention officers spotted the car heading eastbound on Middle Street. The driver of the car eventually stopped in the public housing parking lot in Kuhio Park Terrace and then fled, he said.
“Officers were pursuing the driver on foot when he turned and fired a single shot in the direction of the officers. Officers returned fire and the suspect was hit several times. He was treated at the scene and taken to hospital in serious condition.”
said Logan.
He said the shooting, which took place inside KPT, was “the sixth officer-involved shooting, compared to three shootings around this time last year.”
Logan said the two officers who engaged the suspect were three- and five-year veterans of the department. They were not injured, but Logan said they will be placed on administrative leave in accordance with department policy.
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Logan said a preliminary investigation is still ongoing, but it appears the officers acted justified. He said bodycam footage will not be available to review because crime-fighting officers do not wear bodycam equipment.
He said the suspect, whose polymer ghost gun was recovered at the scene, has been convicted of multiple prior crimes and is prohibited from possessing a firearm.
The man was arrested on suspicion of attempted first-degree murder of a law enforcement officer, abode, felon in possession and unauthorized control of a propelled vehicle.
Logan said police also arrested a 34-year-old female passenger in the vehicle on suspicion of unauthorized entry of a motor vehicle. He said the woman had five previous convictions for minor offences.
Logan said the past three shootings in Kalihi occurred at state public housing facilities, but that “the appearance at this time is that there is no connection to the other shootings that have occurred in this area in recent weeks.”
“We have relationships with security at the gate. We are still investigating those other shootings to locate suspects and victims in all those incidents,” he said, adding that he did not yet know if the suspect in the current crime lived at KPT.
Logan said HPD continues to work to reduce crime through its community policing teams and its partners, and that he met with police leaders from HPD District 8 (Westside), HPD District 3 (Pearl City) and HPD District 5 (Kalihi ). .
“Are we seeing crime trends changing? No, there are just trends in crime that are happening,” he said. “So we, as an organization, are trying to be proactive in looking at that and seeing how we can maybe provide more resources to the areas of District 5 and District 3 because they need to focus on some of the violent crimes that are happening in their areas. area as well.”
Logan said HPD has already put more resources into District 8 and has seen improvements “in recent weeks.”
