Man shot by Honolulu police had struck officer with machete

Police shot and killed a man Sunday morning, across the street from the state Capitol where a children’s event was set to begin. It was the latest incident in a deadly string of officer-involved shootings on Oahu.

There have been six fatal shootings involving Honolulu Police Department officers this year, all of them since June.

Acting HPD Chief Jonathon Grems said at a news conference Sunday evening that the department is concerned about the spate of fatal officer-involved shootings.

“The concern is not only for the public and the folks being fired upon, but the officers as well,” he said. “We encourage the public to please listen to officers’ commands, please obey the commands so we can avoid these tragic situations.”

Grems spoke at police headquarters on behalf of HPD Chief Susan Ballard, who was on the mainland for a police conference.

He said each critical incident is reviewed to see if there are changes to policy or training that can be made to curtail fatal police shootings, but “nothing has come to light that would cause a change at this point.”

He said it was too soon to speculate on the genesis of Sunday’s incident and whether there are similarities with other officer-involved shootings in Honolulu.

The shooting victim, who police had not identified and were calling “John Doe,” died at a hospital Sunday after he was struck in the body and hand by bullets from an officer’s gun, Grems said.

The incident began when state deputy sheriffs responded to a report of an armed man threatening another man outside the state Department of Health building near Punchbowl Street.

Sheriffs ordered the man to give up his weapons and attempted to use pepper spray on him, but it was not effective, Grems said.

Sheriffs called police for help at about 8:30 a.m. and responding officers determined there was probable cause to arrest the man, believed to be in his 40s, for investigation of terroristic threatening.

Police found him near a utility box behind the Health Department building that was partially surrounded by concrete walls. A 2-foot-long machete and a pair of garden shears lay on the ground near the man’s feet.

Officers repeatedly told the man to move away from the weapons and when they moved in to arrest him, he picked up the machete and swung at one officer, striking him in the torso, Grems said.

The officer was wearing a vest, which appeared to have protected him, but he hit his head on the wall while trying to move out of the way.

A second officer fired a Taser and a third fired three to four rounds from his firearm, hitting the man in the body and hand.

Grems said the Taser and the gun were fired at about the same time, following the machete attack on the first officer.

The officer who fired his gun has been with the force for about four years and has been placed on administrative leave as is standard policy after an officer discharges a firearm.

The first officer sustained minor injuries to his head when he hit the wall and was taken to a hospital.

The incident happened as preparations were underway for the Children and Youth Day at the Capitol. Some participants said they were setting up at the time and didn’t know anything had happened until they saw emergency vehicles rushing to the scene.

Grems said the public was not endangered by the incident, which happened in an “isolated area” with walls surrounding the suspect.

He said the incident was captured by police body cameras and police will review the footage before making it public.

“We are looking at each incident carefully to make sure we release them in a most respectful and a responsible manner,” he said. “It is Chief Ballard’s intent to be transparent.”

He said once the department determines that the footage will not affect the investigation, it will probably move to release the video.