On Wednesday evening, two plainclothes police officers in Honolulu, Hawaii, shot and killed a man suspected of shoplifting at Walmart. “It’s unnecessary,” Police Chief Susan Ballard said of the shootings. “Just listen to the officers and do what they say and everything will turn out fine.” The three officers were in the area working an unrelated case when they received a report of a shoplifting suspect leaving Walmart, she said.
The officers saw a driver matching a description of the shoplifting suspect and followed him. Officers were able to box in the suspected pick up driver. The pickup driver attempted to ram a third plainclothes officer before the shots were fired, Ballard said, adding that police instructed the driver multiple times to exit his vehicle. The dead man, who was not identified, had an outstanding warrant and was on probation, Ballard said.
Two other people who police did not identify, one male and one female, were also in the truck at the time of the shooting. Both were injured after the driver who was shot crashed into a tree.
The three officers, all members of HPD’s Crime Prevention Unit, were uninjured. It’s not yet known how many shots the two officers fired, Ballard said, adding the driver was struck in the chest. She said police were “reasonably certain” the man they shot was the shoplifting suspect. [Source: Honolulu Civil Beat]