Hostage Drama Ends In Shootout -- Fired Worker Killed By Police

HONOLULU - For six tense hours, police and a live TV audience watched as a fired worker who had already shot his former boss stood with a shotgun trigger taped to his finger and the gun barrel taped to a former co-worker's head.

"It's going to end with a gun bang," John Miranda promised during yesterday's standoff, and it appeared it would as he launched into a final 60-second countdown.

When the count reached 15, hostage Tom McNeil tore away from the tape and managed to grab the shotgun barrel. Miranda fired twice, missing, and police sharpshooters opened fire on the gunman, killing him with shots to his chest.

"We had to do what we had to do," said Chief Michael Nakamura, adding that any chance at resolving the ordeal peacefully ended when Miranda began the countdown.

Miranda, 28, died about a half-hour after the drama outside the waterproofing business where he worked until just before Christmas. McNeil, 30, was left with only scratches.

Supervisor Guy George, 39, who had been shot in the leg, was hospitalized in guarded condition.

The incident began early yesterday when Miranda returned to the Seal Master of Hawaii offices with the words: "Good morning, guys. You remember me?"

The standoff lasted for more than six hours as Miranda talked by cellular phone with police and disc jockeys at two Honolulu radio stations. He said he had been "stressed out" since being laid off and admitted he had "lost it."

Relatives told police that Miranda had 17 mostly minor convictions in the past 10 years and a history of drug abuse.

In his radio interview, Miranda, who is believed to be of Hawaiian ancestry, said he believed his firing was racially motivated.