Police say a 39-year-old Puna man who allegedly shot and wounded an officer Friday morning in Hilo is dead.
Christopher Lucrisia was the subject of a three-day manhunt after he allegedly shot the officer, a nine-year Hawaii Police Department veteran assigned to East Hawaii Vice Section. The shooting took place in the parking lot of the Waiakea Branch of First Hawaiian Bank, adjacent to the Prince Kuhio Plaza.
Hawaii Police Department Chief Benjamin Moszkowicz said during a press conference Sunday evening that nobody else from the community or law enforcement was injured in the manhunt.
According to police, sometime after 3 p.m. Sunday, officers responded to the 18-1300 block of Ihope Road in Mountain View after a report of a home invasion. Police say Lucrisia entered a home and threatened its occupants before stealing the keys to a vehicle that was parked outside.
Acting on information that Lucrisia may still be in the Ihope Road area, at least a dozen detectives and members of the HPD’s Specialized Response Team — the department’s SWAT unit — were nearby and immediately responded to the home invasion.
As they did, Lucrisia, armed with a rifle and a pistol and hiding in a vehicle on the property, began firing at the detectives who arrived first, police said. Seconds later, SRT personnel arrived and established a perimeter. Lucrisia allegedly continued firing at officers, and one officer returned fire.
Eventually, Lucrisia stopped firing at officers, and SRT maintained the perimeter, repeatedly attempting to communicate and negotiate with Lucrisia, police said.
After a period of time, officers sent an unmanned drone into the area and observed that Lucrisia was nonresponsive in the rear seat of the vehicle.
Medics were called to the scene and determined that Lucrisia had died.
Moszkowicz said he’s not certain whether Lucrisia was killed by gunfire from police or if he died of a self-inflicted gunshot.
“We’re going to have to recover Lucrisia’s body from the scene,” Moszkowicz said. “And, certainly, an autopsy in the coming days will help us to determine just exactly what the cause of his death (Sunday) evening was.
“As we mentioned earlier, we do know from other evidence and other information that he was injured in the initial exchange of gunfire with police on Friday.”
The chief said that officers and detectives remained on Ihope Road investigating the incident. A press release said their focus is “on where Lucrisia may have been over the past three days and who, if anyone, provided him with material assistance to avoid arrest.”
The HPD Office of Professional Standards — the department’s internal affairs unit — has initiated a review into this incident, as is standard practice.
The officer who fired his firearm is a 18-year department veteran assigned to SRT. He has been placed on administrative leave to ensure he is mentally, emotionally and physically able to return to work. He joins the East Hawaii Vice detective, a nine-year HPD veteran, who shot and apparently wounded Lucrisia on Friday on paid leave status.
The scene of the home invasion and shooting is directly across Ihope Road from where officers arrested 23-year-old Silas Zion of Pahoa and recovered Zion’s Chevrolet pickup truck used as the getaway in Friday’s shooting of the police officer.
Zion was charged Sunday with attempted first-degree murder, illegally carrying a pistol and ammunition. and first-degree hindering prosecution.
Zion’s total bail was set at $3.075 million.
Attempted first-degree murder was charged because the victim was a law enforcement officer acting in the line of duty. It carries a mandatory sentence of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.
The wounded officer, who was shot while trying to serve an arrest warrant on Lucrisia, is expected to make a full recovery. He remains in serious but stable condition at The Queen’s Medical Center in Honolulu.
The FBI and the U.S. Marshals Service each kicked in $10,000 for a reward for the apprehension of Lucresia, while Crime Stoppers authorizes up to $1,000 for pertinent information. Moszkowicz said he doesn’t know if there will be a reward for information provided to law enforcement.
The Friends of First Responders has launched a fundraiser for the officer injured in Friday’s shooting in response to a community request to help the officer. The fundraiser is to cover short-term expenses as an additional umbrella of protection so the officer’s family can be by his side through this difficult time. The fundraiser link is at https://www.ffrhawaii.org/officerfundraiser.
Mayor Kimo Alameda, who also participated in tonight’s press conference, said there was “fear, pain and concern that this situation has caused us.”
“You know, when violence erupts in our neighborhoods, nobody wins,” Alameda said. “This has been a tragic and deeply unsettling event, and my heart goes out to everyone who was impacted. I want to extend my thoughts and prayers to the officer who was critically injured in the line of duty. You know, his bravery and the bravery of his fellow law enforcement officers, from the (county) to the state to the feds … it reminds us (of) the critical risk that they take each and every day to make sure that we’re safe.”
Email John Burnett at jburnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com.
