A Honolulu police officer fatally shot a man who barricaded himself in a boat near Sand Island and pointed a shotgun at officers today, according to Honolulu Police Chief Arthur “Joe” Logan.
This was the Honolulu Police Department’s first officer-involved shooting of 2025, and the investigation is ongoing, Logan said at a news conference this evening.
At around 6 a.m., officers responded to 50 Sand Island Access Road to reports of a man, who was on a boat and firing a gun at people on a separate boat, the chief said.
Upon arrival, officers located the suspect, who was armed with a hammer and refused to leave the boat, which Logan said did not belong to him.
HPD tasered the man twice “in an attempt to deescalate the situation and disarm the suspect,” but both were unsuccessful.
The man then barricaded himself in the hatch area of the vessel’s cabin claiming to be armed with a gun, Logan said, and officers saw the barrel of a long gun and a sword from within the hatch.
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A crisis-intervention training officer tried to achieve a peaceful resolution, Logan said.
At around 7 a.m., the Specialized Services Division arrived and was soon joined by the Crisis Negotiation Team and the Department of Law Enforcement’s Major Events Division team, both of which had drones to assist the officers.
At about 12:51 p.m., the suspect emerged from the hatch and pointed a shotgun at SSD officers who were about 15 to 20 feet away from the man on the pier, Logan said.
In response, an SSD officer discharged one round, striking the man in the cheek, Logan said.
The shooter remained on the boat for about 30 to 40 minutes, refusing HPD’s contact and offer of medical assistance.
Logan said during this time, the shooter “was observed attempting to inflict self-harm.”
SSD officers were eventually able to secure the man and render aid.
At 2:20 p.m., HPD posted on social media that the barricade situation had been resolved and that there had been no ongoing threat to the public.
Logan said Honolulu Emergency Medical Services transported the man, whose age remains unknown, to a hospital where he was later pronounced dead.
The officer who shot the assailant has 20 years of service with HPD and is on administrative leave, per standard operating procedures.
Logan said the man who died today had six previous felony convictions, but “I don’t know to the extent whether they were similar to this situation.”
During the seven-hour barricade, Logan said, the man had off-and-on contact with the officers.
“He had hung up many times, but (we were) trying to get him to de-escalate, to come out and meet with the officers and to just cease his defensive measures that he was taking to not give up,” Logan said. “We try to do tasers, we use the crisis negotiation team, we use crisis intervention, other ways to get him but once he pointed the gun, that changed the next response that the officers gave.”