Big Island Police Killings Often Involve Troubled Victims And Guns — And The Number Has Spiked … Compared to Honolulu, people who died in police shootings were often armed with guns themselves. Many also suffered from mental illness and substance abuse.
One afternoon in November 2018, Hawaii County police responded to a call that Puna resident Bert Mercado had stabbed himself. The response would lead to his death at the hands of the Hawaii Police Department.
Mercado’s life had just started looking a little brighter after a few particularly rough years.
He’d been in and out of jail and gone through no less than nine different social service programs for substance abuse and mental health treatment. He struggled to comply with court orders stemming from a domestic violence charge in 2014. At one point, his family had kicked him out and he was homeless, court records show.
