Police: Suspect fatally shot after firing at officers in HPP

A 30-year-old Keaau man is dead and four Hawaii Police Department officers have been placed on paid administrative leave following an officer-involved shooting incident this afternoon at Hawaiian Paradise Park subdivision in Puna.

Police say the suspect was armed with a handgun and was shooting at pursuing officers, who returned fire.

According to police, officers responded at about 2:30 p.m. to an address on the dead-end side of 26th Avenue in HPP off Makuu Drive on information that the suspect — who was wanted after eluding police while armed with a handgun late Friday night during a domestic incident on 34th Avenue in Orchidland Estates — was hiding in a home there.

Police say when they arrived, officers heard noises from inside the house and announced their presence, ordering the man to come outside and surrender. The suspect allegedly fled from the back of the house and ran into a heavily wooded vacant neighboring property on 27th Avenue, police said.

Officers pursued, police said, and the suspect ignored orders to stop. As four officers chased the man, the suspect turned and fired the handgun at them. The officers then took cover in the brush and shouted commands for the suspect to surrender, but the man suddenly emerged from the brush and began firing at the officers again, police said.

Officers returned fire, striking the suspect. Police attempted to perform first-aid on the suspect; however, he succumbed to his injuries and died at the scene.

Neither the officers nor any bystanders were injured.

The officers involved include two East Hawaii Criminal Investigation Section detectives, with 17 and 11 years of service, and two Puna Patrol officers, with five years and one year of service.

Police Chief Benjamin Moszkowicz said in a press conference tonight all the officers have “each been placed on administrative leave to ensure that they are mentally, emotionally and physically able to return to work when they’re ready.”

“We do believe that all four officers at the scene fired their weapons. I’m not sure how many times the suspect was hit,” Moszkowicz said. “We do know the suspect was hit at least two or three times. I would estimate at least a dozen shots were fired from the officers. The suspect, we believe, fired at least a half-dozen shots at the officers.

“It’s hard to tell at this point, because it is a heavily forested wooded area and it is dark.”

Moszkowicz said the suspect’s 32-year-old brother, who was involved in the domestic dispute on Friday night, wasn’t involved in the shooting incident.

According to the chief, the shooting suspect “was wanted for another case, which involved terroristic threatening and reckless endangering that happened in 2020.”

“He was on supervised release and he was (wanted) with a bench warrant for that case,” Moszkowicz said.

Moszkowicz said the two patrol officers involved were wearing body cameras.

“The (body-worn cameras) were activated, so we do expect, to have some BWC footage to release, hopefully on Monday,” he said.

Detectives from the West Hawaii Criminal Investigation Section are continuing a criminal investigation into the incident as detectives from the East Hawaii Criminal Investigation Section were involved in the shooting.

As is standard practice, the Office of Professional Standards — the department’s internal affairs unit — has initiated a critical incident review.

Potential witnesses are asked to call the police department’s nonemergency line at (808) 935-3311 or Crime Stoppers at (808) 961-8300.

Email John Burnett at jburnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com.