The Aloha Exchange Club of East Hawaii honored Puna Patrol Officer Tristin Allen as the East Hawaii Officer of the Month for January.
On the early morning of Dec. 19, 2017, Allen and other Puna officers responded to a report of a weapons incident in the Leilani Estates subdivision. The initial call was that the reporting person had heard several gunshots fired, followed by a woman screaming. While en route, responding officers were updated that a 25-year-old man had been shot by a 33-year-old male suspect who fled the area in a blue SUV.
Upon arrival at the scene of the shooting, while tending to the gunshot victim who sustained multiple gunshot wounds, another responding officer was told the suspect had a weapon and had forced (at gunpoint) a 30-year-old woman to get into the suspect’s vehicle.
Responding officers, who were now facing a hostage situation, canvassed the area making checks for the suspect’s vehicle. Shortly after that, Allen observed a vehicle matching the description of the vehicle on a nearby street and aired that information via radio to other responding officers.
Following an active and lengthy standoff with police that involved the expedited response of the Special Response Team, crisis negotiators and officers from the Criminal Investigative Division, the 33-year-old man reportedly shot himself in an apparent suicide attempt, ending the standoff. Fortunately, the woman and four juveniles at the residence were unharmed.
Allen had placed himself in great danger, as it was later determined during daylight hours that his police vehicle had been shot numerous times throughout the standoff with a high-powered rifle wielded by the suspect.