Honolulu police fatally shot a Pearl City man in his 30s who grabbed an officer’s unattended rifle after he broke into his ex-girlfriend’s home and threatened to shoot up the neighborhood this morning, according to police.

HPD officers responded to a report of a burglary at a home at 1649 Kalauipo St. in Pearl City shortly after 4 a.m. At about 4:10 a.m. the man’s ex-girlfriend told responding patrol officers that he threatened to shoot her co-workers and police officers, Honolulu police Chief Arthur “Joe” Logan told reporters at a 3 p.m. news conference at HPD’s Alapai Street headquarters today.

Patrol officers arriving at the scene heard the suspect “yelling that he was not going to go to jail” and crisis negotiators and HPD’s Specialized Services Division were sent to the scene but multiple attempts to convince the suspect to come out and surrender were unsuccessful, Logan said. Officers were calling the suspect “Nathaniel”.

“At about 6:30 a.m. smoke was observed coming from the bedroom window of the home. About 10 minutes later the suspect exited the home, officers outside the home observed the male armed with two knives, at which time he ran next door upstairs to the back balcony, where officers had been previously posted,” said Logan. “The suspect grabbed an unattended rifle and was holding it when the officers returned to the balcony.”

The rifle belonged to an HPD officer who was previously perched on the balcony, HPD officials confirmed after Logan’s news conference. Why it was left unattended is part of an ongoing investigation, according to HPD.

The officers who came back to the balcony fired at the suspect, followed by a second officer who fired from a neighbor’s yard, and a third officer who fired from the bottom of the stairs, Logan said.

Firefighters responded at 4:46 a.m. to assist with the barricade situation, according to a Honolulu Fire Department news release.

One unit staffed with four firefighters responded to the incident and staged at Paaaina and Kalauipo streets at HPD’s direction. At 6:31 a.m., the incident changed to a building fire and nine additional units, staffed with 34 firefighters showed up to help, HFD said.

Heavy black smoke was pouring out of the side of the two-story house. Firefighters secured a water supply and initiated a defensive fire operation, HFD said. Once HPD gave an all-clear that the suspect had been neutralized, firefighters searched the house and confirmed that no one was home but the man who was killed, according to HFD. The fire was brought under control at 7:03 a.m. and extinguished at 7:16 a.m.

No gun was found inside the house after the fire was extinguished.

Two Honolulu Emergency Medical Services ambulances also responded at about 4:45 a.m. at HPD’s request. Paramedics pronounced one man, about 30 years of age, dead at the scene, EMS said.