A policeman has been charged with murder, and two officers charged with attempted murder in connection with the fatal shooting of a 16-year-old boy. The charges came after a grand jury declined to indict the same three officers in the shooting that killed Iremamber Sykap on April 5. All three officers face up to life in prison without parole if convicted.
Police have said Sykap was driving a stolen Honda linked to an armed robbery, burglary, purse snatching, and car theft and led officers on a chase before the shooting. Deputy Prosecutor Christopher Van Marter said in court documents that Thom fired ten rounds into the rear window of the Honda “without provocation.” Eight of the shots hit Sykap, injuring him. Sykap was pronounced dead after arriving at the hospital.
Van Marter said that while Geoffrey H.L. Thom, a five-year veteran of the Honolulu Police Department, claimed the Honda rammed into his patrol car, body camera footage didn’t show that. Police have refused to release officer body camera footage from the shooting.
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