Police say shooting of gunman justified
By Peter Boylan
Advertiser Staff Writer
Police Chief Lee Donohue said yesterday that the dangerous actions of a 34-year-old gunman in Wai'anae Saturday afternoon forced officers to shoot him dead.
HPD
The man, using two cars, led police on a high-speed chase through Ma'ili, Makaha and Wai'anae, causing five collisions in the process. During the pursuit, the man fired two shots at police with a sawed-off shotgun. Officers fired back, killing him.
This picture of an officer's damaged car was among those shown at a press conference on Saturday's shootings.
"He was a threat to the community and the officers," Donohue said. "We are trained to stop the threat and that is what we did."
Two officers were injured during the chase, but were released after being treated at Wai'anae Coast Comprehensive Health Center.
One officer was thrown onto a vehicle after the suspect attempted to run him down. The other was cut by flying glass.
Police and the Medical Examiner's office would not identify the man police killed. But Wai'anae residents said his name was Ronald Lawry and that he had recently been released from Halawa Prison.
Donohue said yesterday that the man police killed had 16 convictions, including three felonies, one for possession of a prohibited weapon.
Police said the man killed was on parole. They said they believe the suspect was using drugs, but are awaiting the autopsy report.
Deborah Booker • The Honolulu Advertiser
Kelvin Seda, a homeless man who lives in a van at Wai'anae Boat Harbor, said Lawry showed him a small black case filled with crystal methamphetamine tucked into the driver's side door of a green Neon at the Wai'anae Boat Harbor Friday. Seda said Lawry also showed him a sawed-off shotgun wrapped in a black T-shirt. He said Lawry was agitated and appeared to be high on drugs at the time.
"We are trained to stop the threat and that is what we did," Police Chief Lee Donohue said.
Ryan Brown, an employee at Wai'anae Market, said Lawry was a regular customer. He said Lawry bought a 12-pack of Moosehead beer Saturday, moments before the chase with police began.
Police responded initially to reports of a stolen car at 4:40 p.m. Saturday.
An officer saw the suspect driving a stolen green Neon with an unidentified woman on Farrington Highway. The officer attempted to apprehend him in the parking lot of Wai'anae Market. The suspect rammed the officer's car and the pursuit began.
The suspect and his female passenger abandoned the Neon near Orange Street, and jumped into a white van.
Police said the suspect was seen dragging a young girl with him into the van, and that the woman was driving.
Police said neither the young girl nor the woman were injured in the gunbattle.
Police caught up to the suspect near the intersection of Old Government Road and Mill Street. After he refused to surrender, fired twice and attempted to escape by ramming his car into a police vehicle, officers fired approximately 30 times, police said.
Witnesses said the woman and girl fled the vehicle when the shooting started.
EMS personnel said the suspect died of multiple gunshot wounds.
The three officers involved in the shooting are on temporary paid leave from the department, a customary procedure after a fatal shooting.
There was another fatal shooting Saturday night in the parking lot of Longs Drug Store in Pearl City. One person was killed and another remained in the hospital in critical condition yesterday, police said.
Police have not been able to question the wounded man because of his condition.
Police said a group of men got into an argument at approximately 9:48 p.m. Two fired six shots into a white Honda, killing the passenger and hitting the driver, forcing him to flee the vehicle, where he was shot again running toward a gas station in the 'ewa direction.
Police are looking for two men who fled the scene in a small red pickup.
Reach Peter Boylan at 535-8110 or pboylan@honoluluadvertiser.com.
