Reports: Man kills self after standoff at Honolulu hotel
Members of the Honolulu Police Specialized Services Division respond to a barricade situation with an armed man at the Kahala Hotel in Honolulu on Saturday, April 10, 2021. The armed man barricaded himself inside a hotel room at the resort in Honolulu and fired shots through the door, a police official said. [Cindy Ellen Russell/Honolulu Star-Advertiser via AP]
A standoff between Honolulu police and an armed man who fired shots through the door of his room at a luxury resort ended when the man was found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, local media reported Sunday.
A SWAT team entered the fourth-floor room at The Kahala Hotel & Resort about 3:30 a.m. Sunday and found the man dead, local television stations and a newspaper reported, citing unnamed police officials. All reported police didn’t release further information, including the man’s name.
Messages sent to spokespersons for the Honolulu Police Department and the Honolulu mayor’s office seeking confirmation and further details were not immediately returned Sunday to The Associated Press.
Shots were fired at around 6 p.m., according to police. Hotel security staff went up to the room where the man was located and knocked on the door. He then fired through the door multiple times, police said.
No one outside the door was hurt, Honolulu police Capt. Brian Lynch told news outlets. The luxury resort said in a statement that hotel security and law enforcement evacuated the area around the room.
“Everybody is accounted for,” Lynch said.
Authorities have not released any details about the events leading up to the stand-off. Police believe the man is in the military.
Photos and videos shared by local media showed about 100 people locked down in the hotel’s ballroom. Displaced guests were provided with food, blankets and pillows. Hours after the standoff began, guests sheltering in place were allowed to leave.
Images from outside the resort showed a large police presence, including a SWAT team.
Kahala resident Yevgeniy Lendel told Hawaii News Now he was walking in the area when officers rushed to the scene.
“The cops told everyone to run and shelter,” he told the TV station. “We ran away from the hotel.”
The standoff occurred during what had seemed to be a quiet evening at the resort. Visitors and locals were eating at beach-side restaurants and taking in the sights.
Honolulu resident Rex Jakobovits said he was strolling on the beach when he was told by police to get into the hotel’s ballroom. He told Hawaii News Now that when he got inside, people were frightened. Some were crying.
However, Jakobovits said the mood eventually calmed after officers were posted outside the doors.