KAILUA-KONA — Nonexplosive, but designed to fool passersby is how police described the suspicious device that caused businesses to close and traffic rerouted Friday in downtown Kailua-Kona. ADVERTISING KAILUA-KONA — Nonexplosive, but designed to fool passersby is how police described
KAILUA-KONA — Nonexplosive, but designed to fool passersby is how police described the suspicious device that caused businesses to close and traffic rerouted Friday in downtown Kailua-Kona.
Hawaii Police Department officials on Monday released some details on the device that shut down King Kamehameha Mall and a stretch of Kuakini Highway for most of the day. The investigation into who planted the device remains ongoing.
Maj. Sam Thomas, of the department’s Administrative Bureau, said the device within the mall was deemed to be “nonexplosive,” but “was certainly designed to fool passersby into thinking it might be.”
“It was designed to deceive people that it would be an explosive device,” Thomas said, “it wasn’t just a backpack that was left unattended.”
Thomas and others were unable to provide more specifics because of the investigation, which is currently classified as a first-degree terroristic threatening case, which a Class C felony punishable by up to $10,000 and up to five years in prison. No arrests have been made.
Officers responded to a 7:23 a.m. Friday report of a possible suspicious device at the mini-mall and confirmed its presence before closing the area to pedestrians and traffic between Palani Road and Kaiwi Street. The closure remained in effect throughout the day, closing businesses at the mall and causing traffic backups and delays. Shortly after 4 p.m., a U.S. Army Explosive Ordnance Disposal Battalion team arrived. The road reopened shortly after 5 p.m. after the team determined the device was not a threat.
That lengthy closure was required because the police department has to call on the U.S. Army team based out of Schofield Barracks on Oahu for assistance because it has neither the training nor resources to handle explosives, Thomas said. If time was a factor, police would have expanded the evacuation order.
Sometimes, the team is training on the Big Island at Pohakuloa Training Area, making the response quicker, but that was not the case on Friday when the 303rd Explosive Ordnance Disposal Battalion of the 8th Theater Sustainment Command was needed, he said.
“They’re very nice and they come all the time when we call, but unfortunately it takes them getting a plane ticket, getting on the plane and getting together their equipment that they need. It used to take longer — they used to have to bring extra stuff but now they actually have some needed resources pre-deployed at PTA,” Thomas said.
He and other officers reached Friday thanked the community for their patience that day.
“We are cognizant that this is great inconvenience and a loss for commercial business, but we had no other alternative in this matter,” he said. “We feel bad when the public’s inconvenienced like this, and unfortunately a lot of times we can’t explain it or it ends up being nothing at all.”
Added Kona Patrol Capt. Randal Ishii, “we just have to be sure. We don’t want anybody to be hurt. We want to be preventive.”
Maj. Lindsey Elder, 8th Theater Sustainment Command public affairs officer, said via email that a number of factors affect how long a response to the Big Island takes from the time of the phone call requesting the battalion’s support to the on-the-scene assessment and the site being cleared. Once a response level is determined, one of the battalion’s emergency response teams, which is set up for response within 30 minutes, is notified and gets on its way to Honolulu airport to take the next available commercial flight.
“Depending on the situation and severity of the mission, use of military aircraft is possible,” Elder wrote, further noting that EOD personnel are subject to the same screening as other commercial passengers although they are expedited when possible.
Once on island, the team is escorted to the scene by police, she said. Depending on the situation, the team may have had to travel to PTA for resources first, which can cause an additional delay.
At the scene, it can take a minimum of two to three hours to complete the response as an on-site assessment is needed and personnel must don protective gear, Elder said.
“Every effort is made to expedite completion of the mission and establish safe parameters for the public while doing so,” she said.
