Fleeing Hawaiian Man Gunned Down by Big Island Police

Twenty-eight year-old Thane Leialoha was shot while trying to run from a corrections officer on his way back to prison Tuesday afternoon.  He was killed by a bullet to the head in downtown Hilo.  Friends and family claim the corrections officer went too far. Sabrina Kauai, Leialoha's girlfriend, said a witness told her Leialoha shoved the corrections officer to the ground before fleeing down Haili Street in a brown prison jumpsuit. Kauai said the witness reported that the officer fired from a sitting position and that the single shot struck Leialoha in the back of the head." The cops used excessive force," . "They didn't have to shoot him, never had to shoot him in his head." "We don't have enough facts to answer that," said prominent criminal attorney Earle Partington. "He may have, he may not have." Partington says it's too early to tell without a detailed account of what happened which neither the Big Island Police Department nor the Department of Public Safety, which is in charge of the state's corrections officers, will release currently.  But whether the use of force was excessive depends on the guidelines in the Hawaii Revised Statutes.  Witnesses have said there were people in the area Tuesday afternoon. "Shooting a gun in downtown Hilo, to me, affords a substantial risk that someone on the street or in one of the buildings nearby could get shot," said Partington. "I think this will probably be basis of any legal action brought by the family." Third, an officer can shoot if an inmate is escaping from a jail, prison or a detention facility.  There is some question whether a transport vehicle would count. Big Island Police and D.P.S. continue their investigation.  An autopsy of Leialoha is expected to be released Friday. [more] and [more]