Kailua resident Kollin Elderts bled to death after being shot once in the chest, a wound that also injured a lung, the city Department of the Medical Examiner said Monday.

Details of the violent conflict that took Elderts’ life Saturday morning remained sketchy on the eve of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, where Special Agent Christopher Deedy was to help provide security as leaders of 21 nations gather in Honolulu this week.

Deedy, who is charged with shooting Elderts at Waikiki’s Kuhio Avenue McDonald’s early Saturday morning, was released from police custody after posting $250,000 bail at about 4:30 a.m. Monday. He is scheduled to make his initial District Court appearance on Nov. 17 after being charged Sunday night with second-degree murder and the use of a firearm in the commission of a felony.

Police said Deedy, 27, shot and killed Elderts, 23, during a confrontation at the 24-hour McDonald’s at about 2:44 a.m. Saturday.

The city Department of the Medical Examiner said that Elderts died of "exsanguination due to a gunshot wound to the chest with an injury to the lung." Coroners classified the manner of death as a homicide.

Deedy is an employee with the State Department’s Bureau of Diplomatic Security, and has been placed on paid administrative leave.

Except for stating that an altercation among four men led to one man being shot dead with a single bullet, authorities have released no information about the circumstances surrounding the incident.

According to a source who wished to remain anonymous, two bullets were found in the ceiling and the wall of the McDonald’s.

The source also told the Star-Advertiser that a pocketknife was recovered at the scene, but it is unknown to whom it belonged. The knife had blood on it, but no one was reported stabbed, the source said.

Additionally, the source said Deedy refused to take a blood alcohol test at the scene and that he appeared to have been drinking.

Michael Green, attorney for Elderts’ family, said he did not believe the knife belonged to Elderts, based on information he has received from a friend of Elderts who was also at the McDonald’s.

However, Green said, the altercation between Deedy and Elderts began and ended at McDonald’s. Green had previously said the altercation began at a nightclub. Green said that initial story was an assumption Elderts’ family had made.

Green said the Kalaheo High School graduate’s best friend has given a statement to police and has told him that he and Elderts caught a cab to Waikiki late Friday after dinner with friends at SoHo Mixed Media Bar.

The friend said he and Elderts were briefly at a Waikiki karaoke club before going to the McDonald’s, according to Green. While in the front of the line for food, Elderts was joking with employees behind the restaurant counter and noticed three men and a woman in the adjacent line looking serious, the friend told Green.

"There was a discussion between Kollin and that group, saying, ‘How come you guys are not happy? Everybody’s having a great time in here.’ And then they had words exchanged," Green said. When Deedy threatened to shoot Elderts, Elderts invited him to do so, according to Green.

Green said the friend witnessed Deedy "karate kick" Elderts, dropping the younger man to the ground.

"Our client gets up, smacks the guy … (there is) grappling … and three shots go off," Green said.

A FEDERAL LAW enacted in 2004 allows qualified law enforcement officers to carry concealed weapons while off duty anywhere in the United States.

Among the qualifications is that the officer cannot be under the influence of alcohol or any intoxicating drug.

Alan Gano, a retired criminal investigator with U.S. Customs, said policies for federal agencies he’s familiar with prohibit law enforcement officers from carrying weapons if they were drinking alcohol.

"You don’t drink when you’re armed," Gano said.

An exception, he added, would be an undercover officer who had to meet a contact at a bar as part of an undercover operation.

Gano retired from Customs in the 1990s but said policies prohibiting being armed while drinking still are intact. "That kind of stuff never changes," he said.

A spokesman for the State Department in Hawaii referred questions about its off-duty concealed weapons policy to a Washington, D.C., office, which was unable to address the questions Monday.

"This was a tragic incident in Hawaii over the weekend," State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland told reporters in the department’s daily news breifing. "The circumstances of this case are under investigation."

Nuland said Deedy was assigned to "support protection of dignitaries for APEC."

She said there will be a separate investigation by the Justice Department’s Office of Professional Responsibility. The department is cooperating with local authorities, Nuland added.

The State Department, through its Diplomatic Security Service, provides protection for foreign dignitaries — except heads of state — who are here for this week’s APEC conferences. The Secret Service provides security details for heads of state, including President Barack Obama.

Neither agency would disclose how many agents are in Hawaii to protect the dignitaries.

"Our security measures are at the highest levels," said Max Milien, a Secret Service spokesman.

The foreign heads of state likely will come with their own security details to complement the U.S. personnel, according to Doug Runyon, managing partner for Dignitary Protection Group, an Indiana-based company that provides security for corporate executives, celebrities, professional athletes and politicians.

Some of the top corporate leaders here for APEC also are likely to bring security details, Runyon said. "This is a big, big deal," he said.

GOV. NEIL ABERCROMBIE extended his condolences Monday to family members and friends affected by the tragedy.

"Obviously any death under those kinds of circumstances is a terrible thing, but the knowledge of it and the awareness of it in the general public is much more sharply focused as a result of the fact that there appears to be someone who had federal responsibility … just at this time of the beginning of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation activities," he said.

U.S. Sen. Daniel Inouye, D-Hawaii, said Monday his thoughts and prayers are with Elderts’ family.

"I am confident that the Honolulu Police Department will handle this matter properly to ensure that justice is served, and that our community will be respectful and considerate of both the Elderts family and the national and international spotlight which is upon our beloved Hawaii this week," Inouye said in a statement.

Staff writers Rosemarie Bernardo, Gregg K. Kakesako, Dan Nakaso and Rob Perez contributed to this report.