PUNA, Hawaii — Newly released body camera footage from the National Park Service captures the final moments of a manhunt that ended with the fatal shooting of a suspect wanted for a deadly shooting, KITV reported.
The suspect was accused of fatally shooting his ex-girlfriend’s sister in Puna, prompting a day-long search that concluded at Hawaii Volcanoes National Park’s Namakanipaio Campground, according to the report.
The bodycam footage begins around 6:30 p.m. on March 4 as the Hawaii Police Department and NPS officers located the suspect and a woman in a white pickup truck near rental cabins. Officers can be heard ordering the suspect to exit the vehicle, but he fled into a wooded area after a short standoff.
The woman informed officers that the man was armed. In the woods, officers attempted to persuade him to surrender peacefully for nearly eight minutes, video shows. One officer, who recognized the suspect from a previous encounter, pleaded with him to surrender.
“We’re just trying to get you out of here. I don’t want to shoot you,” the officer can be heard saying.
The suspect refused to surrender and repeatedly shouted at officers to shoot him, appearing to call them “demons” and telling them to leave “in Jesus’ name.” When he appeared to reach for a weapon, officers deployed a TASER. The suspect responded by opening fire. Two officers returned fire, striking him.
A handgun was recovered beneath the suspect’s body. Officers rendered medical aid for more than six minutes until paramedics arrived, according to the report. He was transported to a hospital, where he died about an hour later.
The FBI is conducting an investigation into the shooting with assistance from NPS special agents. Findings will be forwarded to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Hawaii for review, according to the report.
