Honolulu Police Official Says Suspect Shot Because ‘He Was Not Compliant’
HPD explained why officers shot and killed a man in Kailua who had walked away from a work furlough facility.
The Honolulu Police Department released additional details Tuesday about a Monday afternoon officer-involved shooting that killed a 33-year-old man in a Kailua subdivision.
Around 3 p.m. Monday, plainclothes officers were checking on information that an inmate had escaped from the Laumaka Work Furlough Center, said Deputy Chief John McCarthy at a news conference.
The officers spotted the inmate, Dallas Pearce, at Aikahi Gardens and parked their marked HPD vehicle behind the car he was sitting in, McCarthy said.
Officers struggled with Pearce while he was in the vehicle and ended up shooting him. Two officers were involved in the shooting, firing four or five shots at Pearce, who later died at a hospital.
“The officers continued to the point where out of fear for their own safety and the concern of the safety of others, they fired multiple shots at Pearce,” he added.
McCarthy said Pearce appeared to have a gun but declined to give more details about the weapon and where it was in the vehicle while the investigation continues. A reporter asked if it was an “airsoft gun,” which fires pellets and not bullets, but McCarthy said the kind of gun was still being investigated.
McCarthy also wouldn’t say exactly where the gun was, only that it was in Pearce’s possession.
“I wouldn’t want to clarify at this point because I think it still has to be concluded in the investigation,” he said.
McCarthy wouldn’t say whether Pearce threatened the officers either verbally or with the weapon.
“I can’t say whether he was making threats or not,” the deputy chief said. “He was not compliant and he was resistant to the officers taking him into custody.”
Pearce was immediately taken out of the car and officers rendered aid, he said. He was transported to a nearby hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
A woman who McCarthy said was an acquaintance of Pearce came out of one of the apartments and began interfering with the officers, McCarthy said. He had identified her earlier as 41-year-old April Fujihara.
She was taken into custody for three outstanding contempt warrants and is being investigated for hindering a police investigation.
The case is being classified as an attempted murder on the police officers, McCarthy said.
Pearce, who was serving time for burglary, had three felony convictions for burglary and drug-related crimes, he said, adding that Fujihara has one prior drug conviction.
The officers involved in the shooting had 22 years and 10 years of experience, respectively, McCarthy said.
