At 11:20 a.m. today (June 18), patrol officers in Hilo responded to a residential alarm and possible burglary at a home located on the 1800 block of Kilauea Avenue in Hilo. Upon arrival, officers determined that the home had been forcibly entered. Officers entered the vacant home and began to clear the home room by room, calling out that they were the police and making their presence known. During the check of the home, officers encountered a locked bedroom door. After conducting additional checks of the exterior of the home, officers returned and breached the door when one officer was immediately attacked by a male suspect with a large knife. The officer was struck in the arm with the knife and fired his duty weapon at the suspect. Another officer on the scene also fired his weapon and the suspect was killed. The suspect was in possession of two knives when he attacked the officer.
The injured officer, who fired his weapon at the suspect, is identified as a 12 year veteran of the force. He was treated and released from Hilo Medical Center this afternoon. The second officer who fired his weapon has been in the force for just over one year. A third officer was also present at the scene and did not discharge his firearm.
All three officers were wearing their issued Body Worn Cameras. Police have recovered video footage from the body-worn cameras of two of the officers present. Video footage was not recovered from the injured officer’s camera; police are investigating the reason this camera did not capture any footage of the incident. The body-worn camera video footage that was recovered is being reviewed and will be released upon completion.
The suspect has been identified as a 31-year-old male with no permanent address. His name is being withheld pending notification of his next of kin. An autopsy will be conducted to determine the exact cause of death.
Detectives from the Area I Criminal Investigations Section are continuing the criminal investigation into this matter; Detectives from the Office of Professional Standards have opened a standard internal investigation into this incident. Pursuant to our procedures, the officer involved has been placed on Administrative Leave.
Police ask anyone with information regarding this incident to call Detective Jeremy Kubojiri of the Area I Criminal Investigations Section at (808) 961-2378 or via email at Jeremy.Kubojiri@hawaiicounty.gov.
