A six-year police veteran fatally shot a 52-year-old Manoa man five times through his open driver’s side window, striking him multiple times in the torso, when the driver tried to flee after a fender bender Wednesday in Waikiki, police said.

At a news conference Thursday, top brass of the Honolulu Police Department fielded questions from the media, including whether shooting the man may have posed a more serious threat to pedestrians and motorists on Kuhio Avenue, teeming with visitors and residents just after 8 p.m. Wednesday, than allowing him to flee.

"As far as shooting the driver and the threat, sure, that’s the thing that the officers have to weigh," Deputy Chief Dave Kajihiro said. "Do we let the driver go on and strike pedestrians, or do we try to stop the threat? In this case he decided to stop the threat."

After the man was shot, likely already unconscious and in extremely critical condition, the car traveled two blocks before striking a tree so hard, its engine block fell off.

The blue Volkswagen Jetta then climbed a curb and stopped on a sidewalk.

Maj. Lester Hite, commander of the Criminal Investigation Division, said the officer had to make a "split-second decision" while trying to pursue the man on foot.

"At that time the officer determined the best choice of action was to fire," he added.

Asked whether the risk of ricocheting bullets posed a serious threat to others, Kajihiro said the officer had to weigh that risk as he continued to fire.

He said that the safety of the officer and others is a factor, and emphasized pedestrians nearly got hit by the driver.

Kajihiro told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser after the news conference that shooting tires is something seen in movies, and can be dangerous because HPD uses soft-tipped bullets that probably wouldn’t penetrate tires, and could ricochet and hit bystanders.

The officer was initially responding to damage to a city bus, and en route was informed a blue Volkswagen Jetta had rear-ended the bus, police said.

The driver was a Manoa man with no criminal convictions, Hite said. Hawaii News Now identified him as Richard Lee Nelson.

Kajihiro described the sequence of events:

Shortly after 8 p.m. the officer responded to the rear-ending of a bus, approached and saw the driver drinking.

"He actually took a swig of it in front of the officer," he said.

The driver refused several orders, "made a U-turn in the middle of Kuhio Avenue and sped off, hitting a tree on the sidewalk and narrowly missing pedestrians," he said.

The officer ran up to the car and again ordered him out. The driver failed to comply and reversed the vehicle, "nearly hitting the officer."

That’s when he fired the fatal shots.

The car traveled two blocks before hitting a second tree, causing the engine block to fall off.

Car parts were strewn across Kuhio near Liliuokalani Avenue.

A witness estimated the car was traveling up to 55 mph.

Nelson was taken in extremely critical condition to the hospital, where he died.

Police opened a first-degree attempted murder case against Nelson, though he is dead, in the alleged attempt to kill the officer, said HPDspokeswoman Michelle Yu.

Online court records show Nelson was arrested Oct. 4 for driving under the influence by mental impairment — his first offense — and refusal to submit to a breath/blood/urine test. Proceedings were suspended while Nelson was to undergo a mental evaluation on fitness for trial and penal responsibility.

The court denied the state’s June 30 request to hold him in custody since he missed two appointments for outpatient evaluation.

The officer, assigned to Waikiki, was placed on administrative leave, as is standard procedure after a shooting. Police have opened an internal investigation into the shooting.

Police said they are reviewing training procedures and policies, as is done after every incident.

HPD has had seven fatal officer-involved shootings, including the shooting death of Schofield Barracks soldier Gregory Gordon in January 2013.