24.09.2018: Police head to Hilo Airport after an explosive grenade was found in luggage

Hawaiian Police Department
Hilo Patrol
Captain Brian Prudencio
Phone: (808) 935-3311
Report No.: 24-062545

Media release

Early Tuesday morning, July 9, 2024, Hilo International Airport experienced a brief shutdown as Hawai’i Police Department (HPD) officers responded to a report from the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) that an X-ray scan had discovered two grenade-like items in the carry-on luggage of a Japanese citizen departing the country.

Responding to the 5:44 a.m. emergency call, officers secured and evacuated the terminal area as a precaution while the department’s bomb disposal team arrived on scene and determined the items were defused grenades.

At 6:45 a.m., police arrested Akito Fukushima, 41, of Kanazawa, Japan, for first-degree terroristic threatening. Fukushima was taken to HPD’s East Hawaii Detention Facility and remains in custody while Area I Criminal Investigation Division detectives continue the investigation.