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A look at UW shooting 'self-defense' case

The Hokoanas’ attorneys referred to evidence they had collected in the case, including a police radio recording that indicates the victim may have been armed.

<p>A protest at the University of Washington turned violent when one man was shot. Photo: Matt Mrozinski / KING.</p>

Two months after a shooting on the University of Washington campus, a woman went public claiming she fired her gun in "self-defense" that night of the Milo Yiannopolous. However, the person she was defending was her husband.

The Hokoanas’ attorneys referred to evidence they had collected in the case, including a police radio recording that indicates the victim may have been armed.

According to a search warrant affidavit, the victim was 34-year-old Joshua Dukes.

When the couple, Elizabeth and Marc Hokoana, turned themselves into police, they claimed they were involved in a "self-defense" shooting.

Both are claiming Elizabeth fired the gun, through their attorneys.

“We feel convinced at this stage that not only was Elizabeth responsible for shooting the gun, but when she did she was acting lawfully,” said Kim Gordon, Marc Hokoana’s attorney.

She declined to go into detail of what happened that night but said the strength of their self-defense case is based on questions posed by state law.

“Does the person using force have a reasonable belief given what they're seeing, hearing, experiencing, that someone else is about to be injured or killed?” said Gordon. “And the second thing is, is the amount of force a reasonable response to the threat?”

Both of the Hokoanas' attorneys mention recorded police, fire, and EMS radio traffic from that night.

About 20 minutes after the first report of the shooting, an emergency personnel appeared to be speaking with a dispatcher, and makes a statement about the shooting victim over the radio.

Here is part of the verbatim of the recording:

“The victim can provide no information about the suspect or where the shooting occurred…however he was armed with brass knuckles and a large knife.”

“Was that the suspect that was, or the victim?”

“No the victim.”

“Copy, the victim was armed with brass knuckles and a large knife.”

Duke’s attorney, Sarah Lippek, issued this comment:

"Mr. Dukes was attempting to de-escalate violence when he was shot. He was in no way threatening anyone’s life. His own life was placed in grave danger by the shooting, and he was lucky to survive his injuries. The evidence will not justify deadly force against Mr. Dukes."

UW Police declined to confirm nor deny that Dukes was armed, or if he was brandishing any weapons.

Gordon said both of the Hokoanas have concealed carry permits. She acknowledged it was against state administrative code for them to have a gun on campus.

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