Police on Thursday arrested Shawn Edward Page, 58, on suspicion of attempted first-degree murder and trespassing following a daylong armed standoff in Volcano.
On Wednesday morning shortly before 10 a.m., Puna patrol officers responded to a residence on the 11-3000 block of Nahelenani Street after receiving a report of a man illegally occupying the residence, which was supposed to be vacant.
Upon arrival at the residence, police identified the man within as Page — who, according to Hawaii Police Chief Benjamin Moszkowicz, has no permanent address — and learned that he was wanted for questioning regarding a previous incident involving his dog.
Officers identified a dog within the residence that resembled the dog involved in the incident.
As officers attempted to remove the dog from the front door of the residence and speak with Page, he quickly pulled the dog into the residence and verbally threatened the officers while brandishing a firearm, police said.
Officers attempted to speak with Page, but he allegedly refused and locked himself in the residence.
Officers at the scene then created a perimeter of the residence.
The department’s Special Response Team, which is HPD’s SWAT unit, along with federal partners — including the Federal Bureau of Investigation SWAT Team and the U.S. Marshal Service — had been deployed earlier Wednesday morning to execute a high-risk search warrant on a wanted fugitive, considered to be armed and dangerous, in the vicinity of Malia Aina Road in the Fern Forest area of Glenwood.
Once the Fern Forest incident was cleared, the SRT team — along with the Crisis Negotiation Team and the federal partner agencies — responded to assist, given their close proximity to the Volcano incident.
The Fern Forest incident was unrelated to the Volcano incident.
A police spokeswoman said authorities haven’t captured the wanted fugitive, 40-year-old Malani Donald Tavui of Mountain View, who is wanted on two warrants and is “considered armed and dangerous.”
Members of the SRT attempted to engage in communication with Page, but he remained uncooperative, and on several occasions allegedly shot toward officers.
Law enforcement personnel continued to attempt to get Page to peacefully exit the residence, but he refused, and police remained on scene throughout the night.
During the course of the standoff, Page discharged a firearm on numerous times within the residence, and shot towards police personnel on three separate occasions.
On Thursday morning shortly after 9 a.m., as the SRT entered the residence, Page allegedly shot at officers, and one member of the SRT returned fire prior to the officers retreating to safety.
The SRT is comprised of officers from units around the island, and Moszkowicz said the officer who discharged his weapon is a 14-year department veteran whose primary assignment is the Vice Section.
“We believe that officer fired two rounds, which fortunately didn’t strike Page,” Moszkowicz said.
According to the chief, that officer will be placed on paid administrative leave, “as is standard following any type of critical incident.”
“The point of this administrative leave is not to accuse the officer or to try to initiate a criminal case,” Moszkowicz said. “The point of the administrative leave is to give the officer a chance to recover and recuperate from this critical incident that they just went through, and to make sure that they are mentally, physically and emotionally prepared to come back to work.
“And as we’re doing our critical incident review, we’ll also do an (Office of Professional Standards) review to make sure that the actions of all the officers at the scene were within policy.”
Page managed to breach the residence and escape into the rear of the property. In the process of retreating, one member of the SRT received a large laceration from broken window glass, according to police.
According to Moszkowicz, the injured officer is an 18-year veteran whose primary assignment is South Kohala Patrol. The officer was taken to a local hospital, where he received stitches and was released.
Police expanded the perimeter and conducted a search of the heavily forested property.
Page was located at 10:16 a.m. Thursday several hundred yards from the residence hiding in vegetation.
He was arrested on suspicion of first-degree attempted murder and trespassing and was in possession of a loaded pistol, police said. Other potential charges could be filed.
Moszkowicz said that Page, who received minor injuries during the incident, was treated by medics at the scene. Heis in custody at the Hilo police cellblock as detectives continue to investigate the potential charges.
The dog was reportedly uninjured.
After Page’s arrest, detectives executed a search warrant on the residence, where two additional handguns and a potential homemade explosive device, which Moszkowicz described as a pipe bomb, was located.
Police immediately evacuated the residence and were awaiting bomb tech experts to respond to access the device. The scene remained secured by police.
Police ask for anyone with information relative to this incident to contact Detective Amy Omaya at (808) 961-2381 or via email at Amy.Omaya@hawaiicounty.gov.