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Cops expected
Kealoha surrender,
not suicide
'He made no demands and
By Rod Ohira
his responses were good,'
negotiators' director says
Star-BulletinNegotiators believed Dominic Kekoa Kealoha was going to surrender when he exited his car early yesterday morning in Nanakuli, a police captain said.
"They felt, at the time, he was coming out," said Capt. Donna Andersen, who commands the Honolulu Police Department's crisis negotiating team.
Instead, the 28-year-old Kealoha covered his head with a white hood and began walking toward the beach. Five nonlethal "bean bag" rounds fired at Kealoha by Specialized Services Division officers failed to stop him.
Kealoha then shot himself in the head, ending a nearly 13-hour standoff with police that had shut down Farrington Highway from Thursday afternoon to early yesterday morning.
Andersen said the resolution was disappointing for negotiators. "He's a human being, and when you lose one you feel it," she said.
Andersen, the Criminal Investigation Division's executive officer, said negotiators were able to keep an ongoing dialogue with Kealoha.
"He made no demands and his responses were good," Andersen said.
Andersen and robbery Detective Kathy Ferreira said Kealoha and a 19-year-old female friend pulled off a home-invasion robbery Thursday in Waipahu. The resident's wallet and a black Camaro were taken.
Earlier in the day, Kealoha allegedly shot a 24-year-old man in the chest.
Police today said that, during negotiations, Kealoha mentioned Wayman Kaua, the gunman who was in a 22-hour standoff with police in Pacific Palisades in October 1998. However, they would not disclose the context of the discussion.
Police shot Kaua to end the standoff. He survived and is now in prison.
Star-Bulletin writer Jaymes K. Song contributed to this report.
