Hawai‘i Island police have arrested 30-year-old William Lawrence of Kailua-Kona with various firearm offenses stemming from an incident that occurred on Wednesday, March 9, 2022.

Kona Patrol officers responded to call about a weapons incident in which it was reported that 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 that 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.  No one was injured during the situation.

Officers arrested Lawrence without incident.  Investigators later recovered the firearm used in this incident. After conferring with the County Prosecutors office, detectives with the Area II Criminal Investigation Section charged William Lawrence with terroristic threatening in the first-degree, reckless endangering in the first-degree, place to keep firearms, and ownership prohibited. His total bail was set $55,000 and he remains in police custody at the Kona Police Station pending his initial court appearance at the Kona District Court on Thursday, March 10, 2022.

Police ask anyone with information about the 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 at the non-emergency number at (808) 935-3311.