Neighbors shaken after third West Oahu shooting in 2 months

HONOLULU (KHON2) — The chief of HPD said Wednesdayʻs shooting in Waianae that left three people in serious condition began during a domestic disturbance.

HPD responded to the incident on Puhinalo Place just after 6 p.m.

When officers arrived, they reported that they heard screaming from within a house and they entered to find the armed suspect standing inside a shattered glass door.

Chief Logan said the suspect was told by an officer to put the gun down but instead of doing so, he “racked a round.” The officer fired twice at the suspect, who then fell to the ground.

The suspect and his girlfriend were reportedly involved in an argument in the street, which prompted the call to HPD. The girlfriend’s relative took the woman to his home, which was across the street and was the scene of the shooting.

A neighbor said the suspect pointed a rifle directly at her and attempted to fire, but the gun malfunctioned and bullets fell out of the weapon and onto the ground — police said the rifle was homemade.

The neighbor said the suspect went and grabbed the handgun from his home then fired at his girlfriend’s relative’s house.

Three adults were found with gunshot wounds in the home and another adult was found to have assault-type wounds.

The involved officer has four years of service and is assigned to district 8.

“They never want to be forced to use their service weapons, but in situations like this, they have no choice if they want to try and protect the lives of the innocent. We pray for a full recovery for the victims of this suspect and hope they can heal physically and emotionally from this horrible incident,” SHOPO President Robert Cavaco said.

The suspect was pronounced dead at the scene and HPD said the handgun that he used to injure the three adults was found to be stolen.

The suspect had 14 convictions, including 11 felony convictions. HPD said they had been called to the suspect’s residence on two previous occasions–one for terroristic threatening in 2023 and another for a domestic argument in 2022–for the same individuals, according to the chief.

Security footage from a doorbell camera along Puhinalo Place captured the moments that the suspect started shooting the stolen handgun and wounded three people inside of a neighbor’s home. Area residents said the suspect has caused trouble before.

“I pressed charges because he threatened my kids and me that he was going to kill us. Went to the police station downtown to put a TRO, and they denied it,” Pua Irvine said.

Pua’s moms home was struck by a single bullet on Wednesday night. Police said it is not known whether the suspects home was searched for guns during the 2023 terroristic threatening case.

“I’m not sure if there was or was not a weapon. I assume there was a weapon used to make it a TT first, but I don’t know exactly why. I didn’t read the reports. All I know is there was a previous case,” HPD chief Joe Logan said.

Rep. Cedric Gates said there was a flag football scrimmage going on at Kapuni Neighborhood Park during the shooting and the Department of Education is now offering trauma-informed support to every school on the West side.

“So the Nanakuli-Waianae complex have all access to this service, and I just want to stress that it’s available because I can just imagine what these kids are reeling from,” Rep. Gates said.

This is the third shooting in about a month and a half on Oahu’s West side, residents hope that the summer wraps up more peaceful than it began and not just for their own sake.

“When they heard the gunshot, all the kids in the back of the park ran,” Irvine said. “Because this gun things is getting out of control, really bad.”

Police are reviewing body camera footage of when officers shot the suspect and said on Thursday that the investigation was ongoing.

A gun violence awareness sign-waving event is planned for Saturday, Aug. 17 at Nanakuli Beach park from 9 to 10 a.m.