Police shoot 19-year-old man who allegedly ran into officer

A man suspected of driving a stolen vehicle allegedly backed into a Honolulu police officer in Waipahu on Friday morning and was then shot twice before being taken in critical condition to a trauma center.

Two officers were placed on leave as standard procedure after they shot a 19-year-old man suspected of operating a stolen van that struck one of the officers as he attempted to flee the area.

The police-involved shooting occurred during the early morning hours after police first spotted the stolen van traveling on the H-1 freeway at “a high rate of speed,” according to Honolulu Police Chief Susan Ballard at a news conference Friday held at the main police headquarters.

The incident began at about 1:30 a.m. when a police officer responding to a report of a stolen 2012 Chrysler Town &Country van in the Tantalus Drive and Round Top Drive area of Makiki spotted it on the freeway en route to the call. Police said the vehicle was later located at the end of Kuhaulua Street in Waipahu with the driver and four passengers inside. Ballard said additional police officers were dispatched to the scene, and at about 2 a.m. patrol officers from the Pearl City Station, which covers District 3 (Aiea, Pearl City, Waipahu), approached the van and ordered the driver to turn off the ignition, police said.

“Instead of complying, the driver reversed the vehicle, hit an officer and another police vehicle while he was attempting to flee the area,” Ballard said.

Two officers — including the officer who was struck by the van as the suspect attempted to evade police — fired three gunshots at the driver, police said.

The suspect sustained a gunshot would to the head and another to the chest. He was transported in critical condition to a trauma hospital and underwent surgery Friday morning.

Police said they would seek an arrest warrant against the suspect for first-degree attempted murder involving the officer he struck with the van.

Ballard said the officer, who has 26 years of service with the Honolulu Police Department, sustained non-life-threatening rib injuries and was transported to a hospital for treatment. Ballard said the two officers who fired gunshots were placed on three days of paid administrative leave as standard procedure.

Ballard said the 19-year-old man has a criminal record that includes burglary, criminal property damage and auto theft.

Police arrested the four male passengers, ages 18 to 30, on suspicion of second-degree unauthorized entry into a motor vehicle. In addition, one of the suspects, age 19, was arrested on suspicion of first-degree burglary and unauthorized possession of confidential personal information.

A 30-year-old passenger was arrested on suspicion of promoting a detrimental drug in the third degree after police discovered what appeared to be marijuana in his possession.