MAKAHA — An off-duty police officer shot a 25-year-old man in the parking lot of a Makaha 7-Eleven yesterday after the man beat him until he was nearly unconscious and threatened to kill him, Honolulu police said.

Police said the attack was unprovoked, and a source familiar with the case who spoke on condition of anonymity said the officer was probably targeted because he is a police officer.

Sgt. Keith Marini, a 21-year veteran assigned to the Kalihi substation, suffered severe bruising to his face and was taken to a hospital, police said.

His alleged attacker was in stable condition when he was taken to a hospital.

Police Maj. Frank Fujii said Marini had bought a cup of coffee at about 5:10 a.m. and got back into his unmarked police vehicle and was about to drive to the Kalihi substation when the 25-year-old man attacked.

"Unprovoked, he (the suspect) started to assault him," Fujii said.

Fujii said that because Marini was seated, he had trouble defending himself against the suspect's punches. Marini was about to black out and feared for his life, Fujii said, and used his personal gun to fire two to three shots.

It's unclear how many times the suspect was hit.

Michael Simmons, a 54-year-old man who lives at the beach park across the street from the 7-Eleven, said he heard loud arguing before he heard three shots fired in the parking lot.

Simmons said no one else was in the 7-Eleven lot when the shots were fired.

"It was loud," he said. "It all happened so fast."

Police said that after the suspect was shot he was helped into a white, four-door Honda sedan with four other people inside.

They drove to the nearby Waianae Store, where police pulled them over in the parking lot. The wounded suspect was taken to a hospital and a man in the car was arrested on outstanding warrants. The remaining three occupants, a man and two women, were questioned by police at the Wai'anae station, Fujii said.

The suspect faces a first-degree terroristic threatening charge, along with one count of unauthorized entry into a motor vehicle because Marini was in his car when he was attacked, Fujii said. The suspect is being held pending charges.

The motive for the attack is under investigation. But the source close to the investigation who spoke on condition of anonymity said the suspect has a prior conviction for driving under the influence and apparently targeted Marini because he is with HPD.

The source said the suspect told paramedics he knew he had been shot by a police officer and was agitated when he was being treated.

Marini was not wearing a uniform but had a police radio in his car.

The Makaha shooting came just a day after a 35-year-old man was fatally shot in Chinatown. In that shooting, which was not related to yesterday's shooting, the victim was shot several times as he tried to flee from his attackers. Police said the suspects, who used a shotgun and a rifle, fled in a white sedan.

Makaha residents said yesterday's shooting had them on edge, especially because it occurred in such a public, well-frequented place.

"I just think the world's going to end by everyone getting shot," said Helen Kepo'o, 18, a Waianae Store employee.

Kepo'o, a lifelong resident of Makaha, frequently goes to the Makaha 7-Eleven for gas but said she might not anymore.

"It's pretty scary," she said. "We don't feel safe."

Reggie Robinson, who runs a shave ice stand outside Waianae Store, said when he got to the supermarket about 7 a.m. yesterday he saw the white Honda in the parking lot with three of its doors and the trunk open and a flurry of police near it.

"I knew it was a shooting," he said. "I could tell it was something big."