A member of the U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force fatally shot a man, wanted for violating probation on a weapons charge, while trying to arrest him Tuesday morning at a public parking garage in Chinatown, the Marshals Service said.
The shooting occurred at 11:31 a.m. Police secured Chinatown Gateway Plaza, a residential building at 1031 Nuuanu Ave., closing the public parking garage while homicide detectives investigated the shooting.
Emergency Medical Services got a call at 11:35 a.m., and paramedics found the victim dead, EMS spokeswoman Shayne Enright said.
The Marshals Service identified the victim as Bruce Zalonka.
Police said he had brandished a firearm before the shooting.
Police classified the case as an unattended death.
U.S. Marshal Gervin Miyamoto for the District of Hawaii said the task force was acting on a tip that a vehicle belonging to Zalonka, who was wanted for a probation violation, was at the Chinatown Gateway Plaza. The task force discovered the van — with Zalonka inside — in the basement of the parking garage, he said.
As the eight-person team approached the van, they heard noises and yelling from inside the vehicle, Miyamoto said. Zalonka refused to get out of the van, so they entered the vehicle and tried to place him under arrest, Miyamoto said.
When he resisted arrest, "they Tased him, but the Tase didn’t affect him," Miyamoto said. "It looked like he was reaching for a firearm, and that’s when he got shot."
Zalonka was in his 40s and had 15 convictions and 60 arrests, ranging from resisting arrest to drugs and firearms, Miyamoto said.
The deputy marshal who fired the gun is a veteran of the U.S. Marshals Service with more than 10 years of service, he said.
The Marshals Service is following protocol, which is to place the deputy on administrative leave, Miyamoto said.
The Honolulu Police Department had a warrant out for Zalonka’s arrest for probation violation for a weapons charge, Deputy Chief Gary Yandell of the U.S. Marshals Service in Hawaii said at a news conference. Yandell said a task force-involved shooting occurred a year or two ago when a suspect shot at officers during a similar situation on Maui.
The task force assembled Tuesday included other federal, state and local law enforcement personnel.
No one else was injured, Miyamoto said.
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Star-Advertiser reporters Gary Kubota and Dan Nakaso contributed to this report.
