HONOLULU — Hawaii authorities have arrested a man who fled with a handgun after getting into a scuffle while trying to talk to soldiers at an Army base on Thursday, officials said.
No shots were fired but the Army treated it as an “active shooter situation” and two military bases on Oahu went into lockdown for several hours, said Michael Donnelly, a spokesperson for U.S. Army Garrison Hawaii.
Maui Police Department spokesperson Alana Pico said police took the man into custody “without incident” on the island of Molokai around 8 p.m. Thursday, The New York Times reported. Police didn’t say whether he was armed when he was arrested.
Molokai is about 25 miles (40 kilometers) southeast of Oahu and 9 miles (14 kilometers) northwest of Maui.
The Army issued a shelter-in-place order for Schofield Barracks, which was later lifted. The Army worked with the Honolulu Police Department to find the suspect, Donnelly said. The man was last seen near the Schofield commissary on a bike.
He was “trying to allegedly talk with soldiers,” Donnelly said. “I don’t know if he was bartering or selling stuff, but someone confronted him, and they got into a scuffle. There was a handgun witnessed, visible.”
Neighboring Wheeler Army Airfield also went into lockdown, as did two public schools on Schofield: Daniel K. Inouye Elementary and Solomon Elementary. The incident occurred around 2:30 p.m. as children were leaving for the day, and staff, students and parents were secured indoors.
Schofield Barracks is about 20 miles (32 kilometers) north of Honolulu. It hosts the 25th Infantry Division and the 8th Theater Sustainment Command.
Wheeler Army Airfield, just next door, is home to the Hawaii Air National Guard and the headquarters for U.S. Army Garrison Hawaii.
About 60,000 people are on Schofield, including soldiers, civilians, workers, contractors and families. Combined with Wheeler, the population is more than 90,000.
