Kona Man Arrested, Charged For Firearms Offenses

A Big Island man faces several charges in connection with an incident Wednesday, March 9.

According to a press release, Hawai‘i Island police arrested 30-year-old William Lawrence of Kailua-Kona for various firearm offenses stemming from an incident that occurred shortly after midnight Wednesday.

The release says Kona Patrol officers responded to a 12:38 a.m. call about a weapons incident in which it was reported an individual was shooting a firearm in the parking lot of a Kailua-Kona apartment complex in the 74-900 block of Manawalea Street.

In the course of their investigation, police determined Lawrence got into a heated verbal argument with a 23-year-old male and subsequently discharged one round from a shotgun. Lawrence then pointed the weapon at a 34-year-old male bystander. The 23-year-old and 34-year-old males are from Kailua-Kona.

Officers arrested Lawrence without incident and no one was injured during the situation. Investigators later recovered the firearm used in the incident.

Later that same day, after conferring with the county prosecutors office, detectives with the Area II Criminal Investigation Section charged Lawrence with first-degree terroristic threatening, first-degree reckless endangering, place to keep firearms and ownership prohibited. His total bail was set $55,000 and he remains in custody at the Kona Police Station pending his initial court appearance Thursday, March 10, in Kona District Court.

Police ask anyone with information about this case to contact Detective Tyler Prokopec at 808-326-4646, ext. 224, or via email at tyler.prokopec@hawaiicounty.gov. Members of the community can also contact police on the nonemergency line at 808-935-3311.