Police shooting 'appears' justified
| • | 4 incidents of residents fired upon in past year |
By Suzanne Roig
Advertiser Staff Writer
A police officer who shot and wounded a knife-wielding man in Kaka'ako late Tuesday night apparently was justified in his actions, Police Chief Boisse Correa said yesterday.
In the first shooting this year involving a Honolulu police officer, Correa said the officer shot the man three times after the man disregarded verbal warnings and lunged at the officer with a 10-inch hunting knife.
The man — identified to be 27 years old — was shot twice in the head and once in the thigh. He was in critical condition yesterday at The Queen's Medical Center, but was stable.
"He (the officer) followed all the training given," Correa said. "I'm thankful that it came to a positive conclusion. The officer is safe, the security guard safe and the suspect is recovering. It appears to us that the shooting was justified."
The officer, whose name was not disclosed, has two years on the job, Correa said. HPD's internal affairs unit is investigating the shooting and the officer has been placed on administrative leave, both standard procedure when an officers fires his or her gun.
At 10:20 p.m. Tuesday, near the corner of Queen Street and Ward Avenue, a security guard saw a man looking into car windows and behaving suspiciously, Correa said.
A short time later, the security guard saw the man sitting in a parked car in front of Magnum Firearms at 940 Queen St. The security guard called police and an officer in the area approached the car.
The man jumped out and lunged at the officer and security guard with a 10-inch knife, Correa said. The officer ordered the man to drop the knife but the man did not comply. The officer fired his gun once but that didn't stop the man, so the officer fired two more shots in quick succession, Correa said.
The officer discovered a second knife — a dagger, which is illegal to carry — tucked into the man's waistband.
Police charged the man with one count of first-degree attempted murder and two counts of second-degree attempted murder.
The area has been experiencing problems of late with car break-ins, Correa said, and landowner Victoria Ward and many area businesses have increased security.
Correa said that all the information so far "indicates the officer responded as he was trained to do."
Advertiser staff writer David Waite contributed to this report.Reach Suzanne Roig at sroig@honoluluadvertiser.com.
Correction: Police initially believed that a man who allegedly lunged at a police officer Tuesday night and who was shot by the officer was in his 30s. The man was subsequently identified and his age was determined to be 27. The suspect was shot twice in the head and once in the thigh by an officer who has about two years with the department but not all of it in patrol. A previous version of this story contained incorrect information.
