HAWAII COUNTY POLICE DEPARTMENT
INVESTIGATIVE OPERATIONS
ASSISTANT CHIEF WENDELL D. PAIVA
PHONE: 961-2341
JUNE 21, 2001
KEOLA NATHEN KANAE
…charged as a result of confrontation
MEDIA RELEASE UPDATE
A 19-year-old man shot by police last week was released from the hospital Thursday (June 21, 2001) and immediately arrested and charged with a number of offenses stemming from a shooting incident that occurred last week in Puna.
The suspect was identified as Keola Nathen Kanae, of the Hawaiian Paradise Park subdivision in Puna.
After conferring with prosecutors, Hilo Criminal Investigation Section detectives charged Kanae at 2:20 p.m. with two counts of first-degree terroristic threatening, two counts of kidnapping and two counts of use of a firearm in the commission of a felony. He is being held without bail at the Hilo police cellblock.
Kanae was shot on June 14, 2001, in a confrontation with uniformed police officers as he emerged from a vehicle in which a couple allegedly had been kidnapped. Kanae was shot after a gunshot was fired inside the vehicle.
Kanae’s companion, Shaun “Mika” Thompson, 20, died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
The confrontation occurred after Thompson and Kanae allegedly stopped a car just before 7:50 p.m. on Ainaloa Boulevard about 2.8 miles from the junction with Route 130 in the Ainaloa subdivision of Puna.
Apparently, both males wanted a ride to Kaloli Boulevard in Hawaiian Paradise Park and entered the vehicle without the consent of either the driver, a 64-year-old female, or her passenger, a 65-year-old male.
Before the junction with Route 130, the driver pulled over to the right portion of the roadway and requested assistance from four uniformed officers who were in the area in response to a call reporting a gunshot in the area.
The passenger of the vehicle started sounding the vehicle’s horn to attract the attention of the officers. As the officers approached the vehicle, they recognized Thompson and Kanae seated in the back seat of the vehicle.
One of the officers observed that Thompson, positioned in the right rear passenger seat of the vehicle, was in possession of what appeared to be a rifle. Thompson subsequently pointed the rifle at the officer, who immediately backed away and alerted the other officers of the firearm.
The officers ordered both males to get out of the vehicle, at which time Kanae, positioned in the left rear passenger seat, started to get out of the vehicle when a gunshot was fired within the vehicle. One of the four officers, an 11-year veteran with the department, fired one shot and hit Kanae in the left chest area. The investigation later indicated Kanae was unarmed at the time he was shot.
Later, another gunshot was fired within the vehicle. The officers then discovered that Thompson had sustained an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound to his facial and head area.
The officers recovered a sawed-off .30-caliber rifle from Thompson’s body.
Autopsy results released the following day indicate that Thompson died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head. The shooting incident, initially classified as a coroner’s inquest, was reclassified as a suicide. The autopsy results also revealed that Thompson sustained a second self-inflicted gunshot wound to his face that was not fatal.
Kanae was taken to the Hilo Medical Center, where he underwent emergency surgery for his injuries.
Both Thompson and Kanae were well known to police.
Thompson had been arrested and charged with the following felonies: One count of first-degree robbery, one count of first-degree theft, one count of first-degree assault, one count of first-degree burglary, one count of promoting a dangerous drug, one count of reckless endangering, one count of first-degree terroristic threatening and two counts of second-degree terroristic threatening. In addition, he was charged with 25 other misdemeanor and petty misdemeanor offenses.
Kanae, at the time of the confrontation, was on probation for a previous conviction for first-degree terroristic threatening. Hilo detectives are also investigating a possible connection with a separate shooting incident that occurred Saturday, June 9, 2001, at a residence in Hawaiian Paradise Park in which several shots were fired at a housewarming party.
Following standard department procedures, the officer involved in the shooting has been placed on leave. An investigation is continuing by detectives of both the Criminal Investigation Section and the Internal Affairs Section.
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