Records: Teen killed by Honolulu police shot in back of head

HONOLULU — A 16-year-old boy who was shot and killed by Honolulu police arrived at an emergency room with gunshot wounds to the back of his head and to his shoulders, according to hospital records provided by a lawyer representing the teen’s family.

“It’s evidence that the kid was shot in the back,” attorney Eric Seitz said Friday.

Spokespersons for the Honolulu Police Department and the city didn’t immediately comment on the records involving Iremamber Sykap.

A doctor wrote in emergency room notes that Sykap had a “gunshot wound to the back of his head, two gunshot wounds to his right shoulder, and 1 gunshot wound to his left shoulder,”

Police 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 April 5 shooting.

A lawsuit by his grandmother and mother alleges officers fired multiple shots at Sykap after the vehicle came to a stop, when Sykap was unarmed and posed no risk to them. It says officers kept firing after the car lurched forward and ended up in a ditch.

The Honolulu Medical Examiner’s office said it won’t release Sykap’s autopsy report at the direction of the prosecuting attorney’s office, which is investigating.

Notes by medical professionals at the hospital and a diagram indicating where Sykap was shot showed the shooting was “clearly unnecessary,” Seitz said.

Sykap’s family says the department falsely claimed the car rammed police vehicles and that officers fired in self-defense. The lawsuit argues that the officers violated department policy and use-of-force standards when they shot Sykap.

The shooting came amid a national reckoning over police use of force.