Two Puna men are in police custody after three other Puna men were injured, one critically, in a Sunday night shooting at Pohoiki boat ramp in lower Puna.
Two Puna men are in police custody after three other Puna men were injured, one critically, in a Sunday night shooting at Pohoiki boat ramp in lower Puna.
At 6:21 p.m., police responded to a report of gunshots fired at Isaac Hale Beach Park in Pohoiki.
Investigators determined there was a confrontation between two groups of people during which multiple gunshots were fired, injuring three Puna men. The three were taken to Hilo Medical Center. One, a 35-year-old man from Pahoa, was later taken to The Queen’s Medical Center in Honolulu in critical condition. The other two, Mountain View men ages 25 and 27, are reportedly in stable condition.
Rodney Evert Wilbur Sr., 49, of Mountain View was taken into custody at the intersection of Highway 132 and Pohoiki Road a short time after the incident and was booked at about 8 p.m. on suspicion of attempted murder. He has not yet been charged and is being held at the Hilo police cellblock pending further investigation.
Police Lt. Miles Chong of the Hilo Criminal Investigations Section said Monday Wilbur was identified by witnesses as the one responsible for the shooting. He said no firearm was recovered.
A search of court records turned up only two criminal convictions for Wilbur, both for misdemeanor domestic abuse in 1999.
In a written statement released at 4:11 p.m. Monday, police said 36-year-old Tyson Keola Lewi of Puna was arrested without incident at the Pahoa police station. Chong said Lewi turned himself in and was booked on suspicion of first-degree assault. Lewi was later taken to the Hilo cellblock, where he remains as detectives investigate.
“We’re still trying to determine what the extent of his involvement is,” Chong said.
On Tuesday morning, a police spokeman said Lewi is under suspicion of attempted murder.
Chong said there’s a “strong possibility additional people may have fired shots, as well.”
“We suspect there was more than one shooter. We’re still trying to piece everything together,” he said. “… We do suspect there was some affiliation between between these two groups. We’re just trying to figure out what the affiliation is and what … started this whole thing.”
The public was notified at about 8:30 p.m. Sunday that police had closed the intersection of Highway 132 and Pohoiki Road just makai of Lava Tree State Park while detectives scoured the scene for clues. The intersection was reported reopened at 10:25 p.m.
Police Lt. Robert Almeida of Hilo Patrol Division said officers also responded to Hilo Medical Center Sunday night.
“What I was informed is that it was different factions arguing and challenging and confronting others and posturing, but no actual affray took place,” Almeida said.
Asked if the brouhaha had anything to do with victims of the shooting being brought into the hospital, Almeida replied, “It appeared to be related.”
Almeida said officers ensured those involved in the disturbance and anyone who wasn’t there on hospital business left HMC. He said no one was injured and no one was arrested.
Reports in other media said the hospital was placed on lockdown status, but Almeida said it was his understanding no lockdown was instituted.
“I was informed the hospital was considering having a lockdown but … I was told, and there were ranking, supervising officers at the scene, no lockdown occurred, as far as they were informed,” he said. “The hospital is a place of healing. We were there to keep the peace and make sure that hospital employees were able to perform their duties and people seeking treatment were able to be treated.”
A spokeswoman for HMC didn’t return calls seeking information by press time.
Potential witnesses or anyone with information about the incident is asked to call the police non-emergency line at 935-3311 or contact Detective Scott Amaral at 961-2384 or Scott.Amaral@hawaiicounty.gov.
Those who prefer anonymity may call Crime Stoppers at 961-8300 and may be eligible for a reward of up to $1,000.
“There’s a whole slew of information and we’re still looking through it and trying to determine just what Mr. Wilbur is responsible for,” Chong said. “We’re just looking for additional witnesses who can help us piece together the events that occurred from the affray to the shooting. We ask them to call us.”
Police also said they are “interested in any video recordings taken relative to the shooting incident.”
“We’re hoping that somebody will reach out to us and say, ‘hey, we got this video,’ and send it to us,” Chong said.
Email John Burnett at jburnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com.