3. Rodney Laulusa

Jan. 22, 1998

Officers were dispatched to Palolo Valley Housing about 7:25 p.m. on a report of an intoxicated man throwing beer bottles. The call was later determined to be from Laulusa.

1. Laulusa, 30, holding a knife in each hand, walked toward four uniformed officers.

2. Officers repeatedly ordered Laulusa to stop, but he kept coming. When he got to within 6 to 10 feet of the officers, three of them opened fire.

3. Some witnesses claimed that Laulusa fell to his knees and dropped the knives after the first bullets struck him. They also claimed that the officers kept firing while the suspect was on his knees, and that they continued to fire as he lay on the ground.

4. The three officers fired 20 rounds, with about 15 bullets hitting Laulusa. He died at a hospital.

Aftermath The shooting was ruled justified by the city prosecutor's office. An administrative investigation continues.



Reporting By Jaymes K. Song
Graphics By David Swann
Star-Bulletin

Information taken from police and news reports.
Drawings are a Star-Bulletin artist's conception based on those reports.
Distances and relative locations are approximate.