By JOHN BURNETT
By JOHN BURNETT
Tribune-Herald staff writer
A 55-year-old woman allegedly shot numerous times on Sunday by a retired Hawaii Community Correctional Center guard was the man’s girlfriend, according to court documents.
The victim, June Shirshac, told police that 72-year-old Joseph Amormino of Hawaiian Beaches was “the male party that had shot her with a handgun several times.” The documents said that officers responding to a late Sunday afternoon report of gunshots at 1197 Auwae Road in Panaewa found Shirshac “bleeding on the kitchen floor with numerous gunshot wounds to her right knee, left thigh, right hand and right shoulder.”
At last report, Shirshac remained hospitalized on Oahu in stable condition.
Police found a silver .357-caliber revolver and a .38-caliber revolver on the kitchen counter next to where Shirshac lay bleeding, along with a black basket-weave holster containing two speed loaders with ammunition.
Shirshac and 63-year-old Francis Makaiwi, leaseholder of the Hawaiian Homes property, reportedly told police that the guns and ammo belonged to Amormino.
Amormino is charged with first-degree attempted murder, two counts of second-degree attempted murder, burglary, use of a firearm in the commission of a separate felony, three other firearms violations and three counts of terroristic threatening. He made his initial appearance Wednesday afternoon in Hilo District Court. Judge David Kuwahara scheduled a preliminary hearing for Friday at 9:30 a.m. The judge also maintained Amormino’s $656,000 bail. He remained in custody Wednesday evening at Hawaii Community Correctional Center.
Neighbors told the Tribune-Herald on Sunday that they counted 11 shots fired. Police said that Amormino had also shot at another person, identified in the documents as Makaiwi, but missed.
One document said that Amormino “had been drinking” but didn’t elaborate.
The first-degree attempted murder charge, which carries a mandatory sentence of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole, is because there were two intended victims, police said.
The alleged incident that resulted in the terroristic threatening charges occurred on Highway 130 near Shower Drive in Hawaiian Paradise Park, the documents state.
One victim, identified as 52-year-old Darlene Peneku, was driving toward Keaau when, according to documents “she observe(d) a red Ford pickup truck tailgating her vehicle and driving reckless(ly).” The report states that the pickup overtook Peneku’s vehicle on the right shoulder of the road and pulled up next to her vehicle. The pickup’s driver then “brandished a silver colored handgun and pointed at” Peneku, her 48-year-old husband, Samson, and their 14-year-old granddaughter.
Documents stated that Amormino was identified as the pickup’s driver from a photo lineup.
Email John Burnett at
jburnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com.