Jail Guard Shoots Escaping Hawaiian Man in the Back

A jail guard who shot and killed an escaping prisoner April 11 in downtown Hilo told a 911 operator that the prisoner "used bodily harm" against him before the shooting, according to tapes from Hawaii County Police and Fire departments. The guard, whose name has not been released, shot Thane K. Leialoha, 28, after Leialoha got out of handcuffs and ran across busy Haili Street in midafternoon. The tapes were released yesterday at the request of news media. "Why did you shoot him?" a fire dispatcher asked the guard moments after the shooting. "He escaped from my van," the guard answered. "He used bodily harm to push me away." His language indicated he was angry. "The f-- wen' push me down, so I f--" His voice halted, then he resumed. "I don't know what he had in his hand," he said. But he later told the dispatcher that he knew Leialoha was unarmed. "OK, did he have a weapon?" she asked him. "No, he didn't have a weapon," the guard replied. "But he broke out of the van, he got out of his restraints and then he crawled under the van, and when I tried to grab him, he (inaudible), he hit me and I fell to the ground, and he was running away and I shot him." Police and the state Department of Public Safety, which employs the guard, are continuing investigations to determine whether the shooting was justified. [MORE]