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There are more questions than answers for the family of a South African man and Honolulu police following a violent confrontation with the alleged burglary suspect that left one officer hospitalized, two others nursing significant injuries and the 29-year-old married father of two dead after police opened fire.
Lindani Sanele Myeni was described by his wife, Lindsay Myeni, as a charismatic, gentle, strong, healthy man whose deep love for her and the couple’s two children was closely followed by a passion for his homeland and Zulu culture, where he was the nephew of a rural village’s king. Myeni had a smile as big as his physical size and learned to surf while living in Durban, South Africa, his wife said.
“I have no idea how the cops would ever decide to shoot him,” Lindsay Myeni told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser on Thursday, the day after her husband was killed. “He’s been a stay-at-home dad this year so I could focus on my career. He plays with his kids all day. Why would they see him as a threat? He was an incredible man. Everyone loved him.”
Myeni’s death was the second HPD officer-involved fatal shooting of an apparently unarmed suspect this month.
On April 5, HPD officers fired seven to eight rounds at 16-year-old Iremamber Sykap of Aiea near Kalakaua Avenue and Philip Street.
Sykap was the driver of a white Honda Civic that was allegedly involved in other crimes, and was pursued by police from East Honolulu to the Pawaa area.
The car was carrying six occupants, and police said the car was involved in an armed robbery 20 minutes before it landed in the canal along Kalakaua Avenue.
Myeni lived in the Nuuanu neighborhood where he was shot Wednesday night. He was a former professional rugby player for the Zululand Rhinos Rugby Club in South Africa and went on to play flanker for the Glendale Merlins of Glendale, Colo.
He hailed from Richards Bay, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, according to a 2013 audition tape from “Idols South Africa.” Myeni stood 5 feet 9 inches tall and weighed 220 pounds, according to the Merlins’ website.
“This had nothing to do with race; this had to do with behavior,” Honolulu Police Chief Susan Ballard said during a news conference at HPD’s Alapai Street headquarters.
Myeni had no criminal history and was identified by a 911 caller as the person who entered her Coelho Way home Wednesday night, Ballard said.
“If the whole story happened to a white man, he (Myeni) would be talking to his family right now,” Lindsay Myeni told the Star-Advertiser. “The homeowners calling (the police) had to be a cultural or racial profiling. He took his shoes off and went inside as if they were welcoming him. Shoes off is a sign of respect in the Zulu culture. The cops shooting him made no sense, either. Why are three armed, grown cops afraid of one unarmed Black man?”
“From what we can gather at this time, he walked into the house, kind of erratic and odd behavior,” Ballard said. “He sat down, took off his shoes and was trying to talk to the people, but they were very upset and trying to get him out, and he eventually walked out. They didn’t know who he was and were trying to talk to him. The homeowners were very shook up and upset.”
The first two HPD patrol officers arrived at 8:10 p.m., and the 911 caller identified Myeni, who was sitting in a vehicle, as the person who had been in her home.
The suspect got out of his car and started to walk toward the second patrol officer on scene, according to Ballard. The first officer ordered Myeni to stop and get on the ground. Myeni then turned and charged at the first officer, punching him several times, Ballard said.
The second officer tried to get Myeni off of the first officer while a third patrol officer arrived. That officer deployed his Taser and fired at the suspect, but it did not stop him, Ballard said.
Myeni then charged at the third officer and punched him before returning his attention to the first officer and charging again, the chief said.
The first officer fired a single round at Myeni, but he continued to charge and tackled the officer to the ground, straddled him and began punching him repeatedly. The second patrol officer fired three rounds at Myeni, who fell to the ground.
Police were trying to get statements from the people renting the house that Myeni allegedly entered. It was not immediately known whether Myeni was aggressive or violent toward them or whether he took anything from the home.
A resident who lives nearby said he heard four shots at about 8:30 p.m. Wednesday.
He heard one gunshot followed by three rapid shots that sounded like “pah, pah, pah!” said the resident, who did not want to give his name to the Star-Advertiser.
Area residents stayed indoors when they heard the shots, and later saw flashing blue lights from police vehicles.
Remnants of yellow police tape remained tied to the iron front fence at the property as police continued their investigation Thursday.
“We’re kind of stunned and shocked,” said another longtime resident who lives nearby on Burbank Street, which intersects with Coelho Way.
Myeni was a force on the pitch and and a warm family man off of it, according to blog and social media posts, one of which showed the cover of the Eyethu Bay Watch sports section, where he has the footie tucked under his right arm as he runs by defenders.
Myeni spoke eight languages and earned a degree in boiler engineering from Tshwane North Technical and Vocational Education and Training in 2011, according to his LinkedIn profile and the family’s blog.
At Tshwane North his pursuits included engineering, physics, technical drawing, plant theory, life sciences, math and English.
After college Myeni worked as an industrial mechanic for Rio Tinto, the second-largest mining corporation in the world, which “focuses on finding, mining and processing the Earth’s mineral resources,” according to the company’s profile.
He auditioned for “Idols South Africa,” the region’s affiliate of the “American Idol” competition, in 2013.
A YouTube clip of then 21-year-old Myeni, dressed in a teal V-neck T-shirt with black stripes and acid- washed jeans, shows him crooning about a love that “made me realize we were born to fly.”
In January he moved to Hawaii, where his wife was born and raised.
Malcolm Lutu, president of the State of Hawaii Organization of Police Officers union, said officers did nothing wrong.
“They were attacked. It is part of the job, but it just shows what is happening to our officers these days,” Lutu said. “Of course, that is the last resort, the use of deadly force. But in this case the officers were fighting for their lives.”
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Staff writer Rosemarie Bernardo contributed to this report.
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