By Sarah Roebuck
Police1
PUNA, Hawaii — A Hawaii police officer narrowly avoided injury when a bullet hit his holstered TASER during a foot pursuit.
On Sept. 22, Puna patrol officers responded to a report regarding an argument between two brothers involving an armed suspect at a house, police said in a news release provided to Police1.
When officers arrived at the residence, a 30-year-old man fled on foot with a handgun.
Officers completed their investigation and identified the suspect as Kaena Kaohu. Officers also confirmed that Kaohu had an active warrant for his arrest.
A search for Kaohu continued overnight, but officers were unable to locate him.
On Saturday afternoon, officers received information that Kaohu might be hiding at a residence in a neighborhood. The homeowner gave officers permission to search the property.
While searching the property, the two uniformed officers saw Kaohu running from the residence toward the wooded area in the back. The officers instructed Kaohu to show his hands and to “stop right now.”
About 30 seconds into the foot pursuit, the suspect fired a single shot at officers.
The officers continued asking Kaohu to put the gun down, but Kaohu turned away and walked back into the woods.
As the officers took cover behind some trees, they again told Kaohu to put his hands up. The suspect instead brought the gun up with both hands, assumed a shooting stance and pointed the gun at the officers.
Kaohu then fired at least one round at the officers. The officers returned fire, striking the suspect in the exchange.
No officers were injured in the shootout, but an officer thought he had either been directly hit by a bullet or by a ricochet during the shootout, according to police.
Investigators believe the bullet struck the officer’s TASER holster.
“From our estimation, had Kaohu’s bullet struck just a few inches away, it could easily have gravely wounded, or even killed, the officer,” police said in a news release.