The Honolulu Prosecutor's Office has decided not to seek charges against the police sharpshooter who shot and killed a man who had already shot and wounded two men and fired at responding police officers in Wahiawa last June. Prosecutors clear officer
in fatal shootingThe slain man had wounded
2 people and fired at policeBy Nelson Daranciang
ndaranciang@starbulletin.comThe prosecutor's office sent a letter to the Honolulu Police Department clearing the 42-year-old officer of any wrongdoing in the death of 20-year-old Dustan Long.
Long died on June 3 of a gunshot to his chest at his home at 210 Karsten Drive.
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Neighbors started calling police at 2:10 a.m. reporting "a big fight" at the home. A few minutes later, more callers to 911 reported yelling and gunshots.Long's friends said a fight broke out during a graduation party at the home.
At some point, neighbors said, Long jumped on a wall in front of the home and fired four shots from a .22-caliber rifle at a car leaving the home.
Three men were inside the vehicle. Two were injured in the shooting.
An 18-year-old man was treated at Wahiawa General Hospital and released.
The other man, 20-year-old Claude "Smiley" Muse of Wahiawa, was transferred to Kaiser Moanalua Medical Center where he underwent surgery to his right hand.
When police arrived, Long fired one shot at the officers, then went into the home, according to Police Chief Lee Donohue.
During the two-hour standoff that followed, Long refused to talk directly with police other than to threaten to shoot anyone who would enter the property, Donohue said.
Long repeated his threat as two officers from the department's Specialized Services Division, or SWAT Team, were trying to get a better vantage point, Donohue said, then fired a round.
A third SSD officer then fired one shot and hit Long in the chest.
Police found Long's body in the back yard.
Donohue called the incident a tragedy but said the officers did the job they were trained to do.