MEDIA RELEASE

Hawaiʻi Island police are investigating an incident involving a barricaded subject in the Eden Roc subdivision in the Puna District.

Shortly before 9 a.m. Tuesday (March 26), Puna officers responded to a call of an armed man in a home on Ahi Avenue. The suspect allegedly threatened the occupants of the house with a firearm. Responding officers determined that he was unwilling to voluntarily surrender.

The department’s Special Response Team tactical unit was activated and responded to the location. Police determined that a 35-year-old relative had managed to exit the house. She informed police that a 55-year-old man was preventing his wife from leaving the structure and was armed with multiple weapons.

Negotiations ensued. As a result, the suspect surrendered to police without incident, and the 55-year-old woman was found unharmed.

At 3:45 p.m., Special Response Team officers arrested 55-year old Jeffrey K. Canabantan, of Eden Roc. He is being held in the Hilo police cellblock while detectives from the Area I Criminal Investigations Section and Juvenile Aid Section conduct further investigation in this incident, which is classified as a first-degree unlawful imprisonment and first-degree terroristic threatening.