A 47-year-old man was shot by Honolulu police officers and was in serious condition after he allegedly shot at them Sunday while fleeing on foot from a vehicle, which police were investigating as stolen.
Honolulu Police Department Chief Arthur “Joe” Logan, who held a news conference at the Honolulu Police Department headquarters on Beretania Street, said officers from an HPD crime reduction unit saw a Honda CRV commit a traffic infraction at about 1:30 a.m. near Aloha Stadium and determined after checking the license plate that the vehicle had been reported stolen Oct. 14 from the Sandy Beach area.
Logan said officers put information on the vehicle out on the radio, and crime reduction officers spotted the car heading east on Middle Street. The driver of the car eventually stopped in the Kuhio Park Terrace public housing parking lot and then fled, he said.
“Officers were pursuing the driver on foot when he turned and fired a single shot at the officers’ direction. Officers returned fire, and the suspect was struck multiple times. He was treated at the scene and was transported to a hospital in serious condition,” Logan said.
He said the shooting, which occurred inside KPT, “was the sixth officer-involved shooting compared to three at this time last year.”
Logan said the two officers, who engaged with the suspect, were three- and five-year veterans of the department. They were not injured, but Logan said they will be offered administrative leave in accordance with department policy.
Logan said a preliminary investigation is still ongoing but that it appears that the officers acted with justification. He said bodycam footage will not be available to review, as crime reduction 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 felonies and is not allowed to possess a firearm.
The man was arrested on suspicion of first-degree attempted murder of a law enforcement officer, a firearms offense, felon in possession of a firearm, and unauthorized control of propelled vehicle.
Logan said police also arrested a 34-year-old female passenger in the vehicle on suspicion of unauthorized entry into a motor vehicle. He said the woman has five previous petty misdemeanor convictions.
Logan said the past three shootings in Kalihi have been at state public housing facilities, but the “appearance right now is that it has no relation to the other shootings that happened in this area in previous weeks.”
“We have relationships with the security at the front gate. We are still investigating those other shootings to locate suspects and victims for all of those incidents,” he said, adding that he did not yet know whether the suspect in the current crime resided at KPT.
Logan said HPD continues to work on reducing crime through its community policing teams and its partners, and that he has been meeting with police leadership from HPD District 8 (West side), HPD District 3 (Pearl City) and HPD District 5 (Kalihi).
“Do we see the crime trends changing? No, there are just trends in crime that is happening,” he said. “So we, as an organization, are trying to be proactive in taking a look at that and seeing how we can perhaps provide more resources to the District 5 and District 3 areas as they need to focus on some of the violent crime happening in their area, also.”
Logan said HPD already has put more resources into District 8 and has seen improvements “over the past few weeks.”