5. Robert Sua

Feb. 6, 1997

Officers were sent to a low-rise apartment along Pupu Puhi and Pupumomi streets in Waipahu about 7 p.m. after three complaints of a man carrying a knife and threatening neighbors. Police couldn't locate the suspect on the first call. The third call came at 9:26. A witness said Sua, 19, a knife in each hand, was running up and down Pupu Puhi Street yelling at police to shoot him.

1. Sua ran to Pupu Puhi Street and Farrington HIghway, where he forced a man from a parked car and held him hostage.

2. An officer followed Sua and ordered him to free the hostage, who sat down. Sua charged the officer, who backpedaled toward Farrington Highway.

3. Another officer yelled at Sua, diverting his attention. He charged this officer, who fired one shot at Sua when he was 7 to 10 feet away. Sua stopped mo- mentarily, screamed and charged again.

4. The officer tripped and fell, firing his gun and hitting Sua three times. Two other officers disarmed and subdued Sua, who survived.

Aftermath The shooting was ruled justified. Sua was convicted of reckless endangering and first-degree terroristic threatening.



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.