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A 42-year-old woman who was shot by an off-duty Honolulu police officer in a King Street bar two years ago says in a federal lawsuit that the officer’s supervisors knew the officer had drinking and emotional problems but failed to take steps to prevent him from carrying a firearm.
Hyun Ju Park was working as a bartender and manager at King’s Sports Bar in the early-morning hours of April 3, 2015, when a round fired from police officer Anson Kimura’s handgun hit her in the stomach. Park was taken to the hospital in serious condition.
Police said the shooting was accidental but placed Kimura on restricted duty while criminal and internal investigations were conducted. The department said it also initiated an internal investigation into the actions of officers who were with Kimura at the bar and who responded to the shooting.
Kimura, 58, retired in May 2015, before any of the investigations against him concluded.
In July last year, more than a year after the shooting, the city prosecutor charged Kimura with second-degree assault for recklessly causing serious bodily injury to Park. Kimura pleaded guilty and a state judge sentenced him last October to four years of probation, 60 days of which he had to spend behind bars.
His lawyer said Kimura was checking his department-approved personal firearm, a revolver, to see if it was loaded when the gun went off.
Second-degree assault is a Class C felony and Kimura could have been sentenced to up to five years in prison.
Park filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court Thursday against the city and Kimura. She also names as defendants two other Honolulu police officers, Sterling Naki and Joshua Omoso, who Park says were drinking with Kimura at King’s Sports Bar at the time of the shooting.
The lawsuit cites a Honolulu Police Department policy that prohibits officers from handling firearms while consuming alcohol and says the department failed to immediately discipline Kimura, Naki or Omoso for their misconduct.
The Honolulu Star-Advertiser sent written questions to HPD regarding claims in the lawsuit but did not receive a response.
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