HONOLULU (KHON2) — A man was fatally shot by Honolulu police on Sunday following an hours-long standoff at La Mariana Sailing Club in Sand Island.
Witnesses described the suspect, a man in his 30s, as “troubled and strange.”
According to police, the standoff began shortly after 6 a.m. when the suspect — later identified as a convicted felon — allegedly began firing BB pellets at another boat in the harbor. One witness said the sound woke her and her husband.
“We just started hearing ‘pa ping, pa ping,’” said Anny, a woman who was on a neighboring boat. “I jumped out of bed. My husband was in the galley cooking eggs.”
Anny said her husband confronted the man and was struck in the head by the suspect. She said the suspect then returned to his boat, and she called police.
When officers arrived, the man barricaded himself inside his vessel.
“Officers deployed a Taser twice in an attempt to de-escalate the situation and disarm the suspect,” Honolulu Police Chief Joe Logan said at a press conference Sunday. “Both deployments were unsuccessful, and the suspect barricaded himself in the hatch area of the cabin of the vessel, claiming to be armed with a gun.”
Anny said police tried to communicate with the suspect.
“He didn’t believe they were real cops, and we know that because he got on Channel 16 VHF for the Coast Guard and told them pirates had boarded his boat,” she said. “He even called 911 and told them fake cops were on board.”
“It’s a real sad story. Whatever reality he was living in, he was on the radio saying he was a federal agent, Secret Service, working for the CIA and that his headquarters were in Langley,” she added.
Anny said police showed restraint and worked to protect nearby residents.
“They came and got us. They built a wall of police officers and shields and escorted us out through the gate,” she said.
After several hours, Anny asked officers for an update.
“One of the [SWAT] officers said, ‘He’s talking in bubbles, so we’re going to try and wait him out. We might be here all day,’” she said. “And I believe they would have waited, if he hadn’t come out with a weapon.”
At around 12:50 p.m., the suspect exited the cabin and pointed a weapon at officers from about 15 to 20 feet away, police said. A 20-year veteran officer fired a single shot, striking the man in the face.
The man refused medical treatment, and officers said he appeared to be attempting self-harm. Emergency Medical Services personnel in bulletproof vests and helmets took him to a nearby hospital, where he was pronounced dead about 30 to 40 minutes later.
Police said they are awaiting autopsy and toxicology results to determine whether the man was under the influence at the time of the incident and to confirm the cause of death.
“He was a young man who was clearly going through some things,” Anny said. “He was mentally troubled. I felt heartbroken over the whole situation.”
Other residents at the boat harbor described him as a strange man who had recently arrived while trying to purchase a boat.
“Everyone was trying to figure out what was going on with him,” Anny said. “He hadn’t been a problem, but he also just didn’t really make sense or talk to anyone. When he did interact, people would think, ‘What did he just say?’ The sentences were always incoherent.”
Court records show the man had a history of violence, including six prior felony convictions. He pleaded guilty to felony abuse of a family member in 2011, assaulted a police officer in 2012, and was charged in 2023 with two counts of firearm theft and multiple assaults on officers. He was legally prohibited from possessing firearms.
Criminal defense attorney Megan Kau said that while BB guns are not considered firearms under Hawaii state law, convicted felons are still barred from owning actual firearms.
Residents at the harbor said the man had displayed erratic behavior in recent weeks.
“He stared at us while we were sleeping. He yelled incoherent things. He once told me he wasn’t doing well,” said a witness.
Police said the man had been scheduled to vacate the area by the end of the month.
The Honolulu Police Department said the officer who fired the fatal shot has been placed on administrative leave, which is standard procedure in police shootings.