UPDATE: This story has been updated to include the man’s capture Monday morning.

North Shore residents on Kaua‘i were left with questions and feeling uneasy after police officers were out in force over the weekend in Kīlauea trying to catch a wanted man connected to a homicide investigation.  

Police spent over 12 hours in a quiet neighborhood Saturday unsuccessfully searching for 51-year-old William “Billy” Sinclair, who neighbors said lives in a rundown house at 4360 Kīlauea Road. Officers evacuated nearby residents and closed Kīlauea Road between Kolo Road and Kaikala Street. 

Police eventually took Sinclair into custody for second-degree murder and second-degree attempted murder at 9:55 a.m., Monday, according to a county news release. Officers located Sinclair near the Kapaʻa Public Library on Monday morning. Sinclair entered the ocean behind the library following a foot pursuit.

KPD spokesperson Tiana Victorino had said in an email Sunday that no hostages were involved in Saturday’s situation but would not give further details about why officers thought Sinclair was present or confirm which house they believed Sinclair was in. 

“To preserve the integrity of the investigation, and because this remains an active and ongoing case, we are unable to provide additional details at this time beyond what has already been released,” she said. 

Sinclair was still at large Sunday afternoon and considered armed and dangerous. Around midday Sunday, police cars could be seen driving down Kīlauea Road and in the surrounding area. At 1:30 p.m., KPD sent out an announcement saying Sinclair was last seen in Kapa‘a wearing a black leather vest with blue lettering, a blue and black face covering, and carrying a brown and black backpack. 

“Everyone is scared,” said a Kīlauea resident who was evacuated Saturday. Civil Beat spoke with several area residents who declined to share their names out of fear that Sinclair would return. 

Sinclair is a person of interest in two investigations. One is about a Kīlauea resident being grazed by a bullet early Saturday morning. Police originally responded to reports of gunshots in Kīlauea around 4:45 a.m. The second is a homicide that occurred in Hanalei hours earlier.

A handful of Kīlauea residents said they heard those early morning gunshots. They also heard gunshots or loud booms in the days and weeks before then — generally late at night or in the early morning — but some said they were not sure where in the area they were coming from. 

Kauaʻi County Council member Felicia Cowden, who chairs the council’s public safety committee, said she’s also heard gunshots. She lives farther down Kīlauea Road beyond where police evacuated residents but said she regularly walks the area. 

“It’s a little nerve-wracking,” she said. 

She added that she had hoped KPD would have sent out more information about Saturday’s situation to help put the Kīlauea community more at ease. KPD announced the partial Kīlauea Road closure on its Facebook page at 8:30 a.m. Saturday. An update that the road was open was posted at 6:15 p.m. And a press release about the suspect was sent out right before 9 p.m.

Police held a press conference Monday afternoon after apprehending Sinclair. KPD Chief Rudy Tai, who took the helm in March, said the homicide investigation-turned-manhunt lasted 50 hours. He and his assistant chief shared that Sinclair did not have a criminal history in Hawai‘i but was a convicted felon in California. Weapons and ammunition were discovered at Sinclair’s home on Kaua‘i.

Watch it in full below:

Civil Beat’s reporting on Kauaʻi is supported in part by a grant from the G. N. Wilcox Trust.