2 shots killed man in standoff

A 60-year-old Puna man shot to death by Big Island police Wednesday fired a .22-caliber revolver during a struggle with officers who also fired their guns, according to a news release.

Two officers each shot Daniel Heidt once in the upper torso in Kehena Beach Estates in Lower Puna, said Maj. Samuel Thomas. Heidt died at the scene.

The officers, one with five years of service and the other with more than six years, have been placed on administrative leave, which is standard, during the investigation.

Police said Heidt fired a gun several times inside his house during a 10-hour standoff.

At about 1 p.m. he came out of his house with a machete, police said.

As officers tried to get him to surrender, he pulled out a handgun that he had been hiding, the release said. During a struggle for the gun, both officers and Heidt fired their weapons, police said.

NEIGHBOR ISLANDS

Big Isle ohia timber is free for the taking

HILO » The state Department of Land and Natural Resources is making ohia timber and firewood harvested on the Big Island available to the public for free.

The timber was cleared from the Saddle Road project and stockpiled in a forest clearing located about 250 feet north of the road at milepost 16.

Wood may only be removed from the stockpile until Jan. 3.

State officials said yesterday that there is no limit to the amount that may be taken from the stockpile.

Department Chairwoman Laura Thielen says the realignment of Saddle Road required the removal of trees in the Hilo Forest Reserve.

She says the department would like to see the wood used by the public instead of being bulldozed and sent to a landfill.