Legality uncertain in Navy submariner’s shooting

An Ewa Beach resident who shot and killed a Navy man early Sunday outside a home hasn’t been charged, and the legality of the shooting remains a question, according to experts and officials.

The Navy on Tuesday identified Chief Petty Officer John Ellsworth Hasselbrink, a submariner who served 22 years at Pearl Harbor, as the man shot and killed in Ewa Beach early Sunday morning after reportedly attempting to enter another residence near his own.

Citing police reports, the U.S. Pacific Fleet submarine force said Hasselbrink, 41, tried to enter the other home by mistake.

Police said the man who was killed was trying to open the front door of a 33-year-old Ocean Pointe resident’s house at about 3:15 a.m.

The resident yelled for the person outside to leave and fired a single shot through the door, television station KHON2 reported.

Harvey Gerwig, president of the Hawaii Rifle Association, said when it comes to using deadly force for self-defense, “there is virtually no protection of property (allowed) in the state of Hawaii.”

That’s unlike a state such as Texas, “where you go out and somebody is leading your cow away” and that person can be legally shot, Gerwig said Wednesday.

The Hawaii Rifle Association teaches people, “What’s your best option? Is your best option to shoot the guy? Or to back away?” Gerwig said.

Hawaii in 2010 passed what’s known as a modified Castle Doctrine, which across the country generally means that if “somebody breaks into your house and you are afraid for your life or health — boom — you can shoot him,” Gerwig said.

In Hawaii, a home intruder must also be committing a felony as a requirement for the use of deadly force, he said.

“The guy’s coming in with a club, that’s a felony, so that’s felonious assault,” said Gerwig, who noted he is not an attorney. “If the guy’s just swearing at you, you better chill.”

Hawaii law says the use of deadly force is justifiable if a person believes such force is necessary to protect against death or serious bodily injury. The use of deadly force is not justifiable if an individual can avoid its use “with complete safety by retreating or by surrendering possession of a thing,” the law states.

However, a resident is not required to “retreat” from a home — as was the case before the modified Castle Doctrine was approved, Gerwig said.

In Hawaii, if a resident is separated from an intruder by a front door and the intruder is shot and killed through the door, “you are going to jail — and not just temporarily,” he said.

State Public Defender Jack Tonaki said that in general, the law of self-defense in Hawaii to use deadly force is that “you have to be reasonably in apprehension of imminent serious bodily injury or death.”

It’s not specifically in the self-defense statute, but “it’s almost presumed under the law that you have that kind of fear” if someone is breaking into your house, he said.

Whether a resident is charged for shooting a would-be intruder depends on the circumstances, said Tonaki, who notes that a salesman can’t be shot through a door.

“But if the person was like banging on the door in a menacing fashion, exhibiting violent behavior, threatening, that kind of thing, you have a better argument that your use of self-defense was reasonable,” Tonaki said.

An Emergency Medical Services crew responded to 91-1050 Kaileolea Drive early Sunday and found a man with a gunshot wound, an EMS report said. He died at the scene, the report said. The Ocean Pointe neighborhood has rows of similar-looking town houses.

Hasselbrink was assigned to the Virginia-class submarine USS Illinois. A native of Granada Hills, Calif., he joined the Navy in February 1996 and served his entire career based at Pearl Harbor.

The Ewa Beach resident who allegedly shot Hasselbrink was arrested but released Monday night without charges, pending further investigation. He was booked on suspicion of second-degree murder and a registered-firearm violation.

The shooting is still under investigation by the Honolulu Police Department and the Naval Criminal Investigative Unit, HPD spokeswoman Michelle Yu said Wednesday.

Asked to confirm that the shot was fired through the door, Yu said in an email, “This is part of the investigation.”