A Hawaii island police officer fatally shot a theft suspect who police say was throwing rocks at the officer in dense brush Wednesday afternoon in Ocean View.
According to the Hawaii Police Department, at 4:10 p.m., a Kau patrol officer was driving a police vehicle in a shopping center parking lot on the 92-8700 block of Mamalahoa Highway when he was flagged down by a woman who reported a theft.
The woman pointed to a male suspect in the parking lot and the officer attempted to contact him, but the man fled on foot, heading south on Prince Kuhio Boulevard.
The suspect then ran into a nearby area of dense brush in the Hawaiian Ocean View Estates subdivision of Ocean View, police said.
A second Kau patrol officer arrived to assist in the search and both officers entered the dense brush, police said in a news release. The officers became separated during the search. The first officer reported to dispatch that he heard shots fired then found the second officer with a bleeding arm and the suspect on the ground unresponsive.
Police said an investigation determined that the suspect had thrown rocks at the second officer. “The second officer issued loud, verbal commands and deployed his taser multiple times, which was ineffective, before firing his service weapon. After the officer discharged his service weapon, the suspect continued to try to throw rocks at the officer,” Hawaii Police Department officials said in the release.
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The officer apprehended the suspect and began life-saving measures on the man until Hawaii Fire Department medics arrived.
The suspect was pronounced dead at the scene after 5:23 p.m. The man’s name was not immediately released, pending positive identification and notification of next of kin, police said. An autopsy has been scheduled for Friday.
Hawaii police officials said the injured officer was taken to Kau Community Hospital and later released. They did not describe the extent or exact cause of his injury.
The department’s Office of Professional Standards has initiated a critical incident review, which is standard practice in officer-involved shootings, police said.
The officer who shot the suspect has been with the department for less than a year and is assigned to the Kau patrol division. He has been placed on administrative leave “to ensure he is mentally, emotionally, and physically able to return to work,” officials said.
Police urged anyone who witnessed or has information about the incident to call the department’s non-emergency line at (808) 935-3311.