HONOLULU (KHON2) — Honolulu Prosecutor Steve Alm took to the podium on Thursday, March 20 to announce that the January 2024 officer-involved shooting in Makaha was justified.
On Thursday, Jan. 25, 2024, two Honolulu police officers responded to a traffic call on Farrington Highway near Moua Street.
When officers arrived at the scene, they found a man in the middle of the roadway holding a knife. He refused repeated commands to drop the knife.
One of the officers put her firearm back into her holster, pulled out a stun gun and deployed the weapon on the man.
The man fell to the ground. Once he got up, officials said he repeatedly charged at and attempted to tackle one of the officers. The officer then opened fire and hit the man twice in the chest.
“Given his aggression and erratic conduct, it was reasonable for Officer 1 to believe that [the man] was trying to get control of his firearm and use it on Officer 2 in addition to using it on himself,” Alm explained.
Honolulu Ocean Safety, Honolulu Fire Department and Honolulu EMS responded to the incident and pronounced the man dead at the scene.
After reviewing evidence, body cam footage and interviews, officials concluded the officer was justified in shooting the man based on the issue of use of deadly force to protect others.
“He was talking coherently. He had an idea. He just didn’t want to listen to what they said and they offered to get him help. He didn’t want it and he ended up getting what he said he was going to do three weeks before, and that was suicide by cop,” Alm said.
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Alm added that no charges will be filed against the officer who opened fire.