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 Oʻahu went into lockdown for several hours, said Michael Donnelly, a spokesperson for U.S. Army Garrison Hawaiʻi.
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.
Molokaʻi is about 25 miles southeast of Oʻahu and 9 miles 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.
About 60,000 people are on Schofield, including soldiers, civilians, workers, contractors and families. Combined with Wheeler, the population is more than 90,000.
U.S. Army Garrison Hawaiʻi announced that all operations at Schofield Barracks will resume on Friday.
