Mother: Son fatally shot by Maui police officer suffered from mental health issues

KAHULUI (HawaiiNewsNow) - The corner of Pu’ukani Street and South Pu’unene Avenue in Kahului seemed back to normal on Friday with lots of traffic buzzing by.

But in one home, Leodelfa Antallan is mourning the loss of her son.

“I miss my son, he doesn’t deserve to die,” she said Thursday night.

Antallan said her son, 29-year-old Reynaldo Ricarde, suffers from mental health issues.

Police said officers responded to their home around 7:30 p.m. Thursday because he was suicidal.

“The first officer encountered a male holding a weapon over his head. The male advanced toward our officer at which time, he had to discharge his weapon,” said Acting Assistant Chief Keola Tom.

Tom said they tried to revive him, but he later died at the hospital.

Antallan said her son did not deserve to die.

“I need justice for my son. He needs to pay for what he did to my son,” she said.

Investigation underway after Maui police fatally shoot man holding weapon in Kahului

Mental health expert Dr. Dara Rampersad helped launch Maui Police Department’s Crisis Intervention Training. He trained MPD officers for six years. Now, he is training first responders in Arizona.

“No officer that wants to, on their job, go out and have to take somebody’s life, that’s not part of the job that anybody would want to have,” said Dr. Rampersad. “It’s one of the toughest calls than any officer will have to make.”

The last officer-involved shooting on Maui was back in 2018. Kaulana “Toji” Reinhardt, 26, was shot and killed by police when he exchanged gunfire with officers.

Maui police officials said the officer in Thursday’s deadly shooting has been placed on leave which is standard procedure.

“I just want folks to have compassion for the fact that this person was doing their job,” Dr. Rampersad said. “This was not something that, I’m certain, that they did not want to have to do in the line of duty.”

“And so as much as we can have compassion for all parties involved, I think that would be really great.”

MPD officials said no other injuries reported and the investigation is ongoing.

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