HONOLULU — Honolulu police officers pursuing suspects in a stolen car linked to a crime spree shot and killed a 16-year-old boy Monday, Chief Susan Ballard said.
The medical examiner’s office had not yet released the teen’s identity Tuesday morning.
Police were reviewing body camera footage but Ballard told reporters late Monday preliminary information showed that officers located a white Honda Civic that had been reported stolen over the weekend. The car was later linked to a burglary, purse snatching, car theft and an armed robbery, Ballard said.
Officers pursued the car as it sped west on a highway and freeway, at one point driving into oncoming traffic, Ballard said. The driver rammed two police cars before crashing into a fence and landing in a canal, she said.
Before the car ended up in the canal, officers fired at it. Some of the occupants later ran from canal with officers running after them, Ballard said.
The 16-year-old driver was taken to a hospital where he died, Ballard said. The five other occupants of the car ranged in age from 14 to 22. One was seriously injured, a second suffered injuries Ballard described as non-life threatening and three were taken into custody.
The three officers who used their guns were put on administrative leave, which is standard police procedure, Ballard said, estimating that seven or eight rounds were fired.
“It was a very complicated scene,” Ballard said when a reporter asked why it took four hours to hold a news conference. “There were a lot of people who were arrested. Three officers were involved.”
The officers had a right to speak with union lawyers, she said.
One officer said he saw what appeared to be a firearm on a seat when he approached the car, Ballard, but no firearms had been recovered as of Monday night. None of the suspects had any firearms on them when they were arrested, she said.
“Just hearing about this, this close to my neighborhood,” Marilyn Yeager told KHON-TV. “It just rips my guts out. … It’s coming too close to home.”
Heidi Pacheco told Hawaii News Now what she thought were fireworks woke her from a nap.
