Emotions ran high as friends and family of a 36-year-old Pahoa man accused of shooting two Mountain View men early Sunday evening at Isaac Hale Beach Park in lower Puna overflowed the gallery seating Thursday in Hilo District Court in a show of support.
Emotions ran high as friends and family of a 36-year-old Pahoa man accused of shooting two Mountain View men early Sunday evening at Isaac Hale Beach Park in lower Puna overflowed the gallery seating Thursday in Hilo District Court in a show of support.
“Keep your head up, man,” one man called to Tyson Keola Lewi, accused of the shootings of 25-year-old Rodney Wilbur Jr. and 27-year-old Austin Aiwohi at the crowded beach park in Puna.
“You’re our hero, Ty,” said another.
Lewi is charged with attempted first-degree murder, two counts of attempted second-degree murder and criminal property damage, and use of a firearm in the commission of a separate felony. Hilo District Judge Robert Crudele maintained Lewi’s bail at $550,000 and ordered him to appear at 2 p.m. Monday for a preliminary hearing.
Nine state sheriff’s deputies were deployed to the crowded courtroom and the hearing occurred without incident.
After the hearing, a woman who said she was at Pohoiki when the incident occurred disputed the police account of a confrontation between two groups of people before shooting.
Reina Kanakaole said Lewi, whom she described as a relative by marriage, was protecting himself and others from Rodney Wilbur Sr., whom she said rolled into the park with others in a white Dodge Ram pickup truck. She said Wilbur Sr. and the others got out of the truck with baseball bats and started attacking people at a pavilion for no apparent reason.
Kanakaole said she saw Wilbur Sr., a 49-year-old Mountain View man, shoot her cousin Gerard Kawelo in the head but didn’t see Lewi shoot anyone, but described Lewi as “a hero.”
“If he didn’t take actions … then a lot of people would’ve been wounded out there,” Kanakaole said. “Because every Sunday, Pohoiki is filled with a lot of families, a lot of kids, and at the time when this was happening, a lot of the kids was walking around right there. My son witnessed stuff, you know.”
Wilbur Sr. faces charges of second-degree attempted murder, use of a firearm in the commission of a separate felony, prohibited possession of a firearm and illegally carrying a pistol for the shooting of Kawelo, a 35-year-old Pahoa man.
He was released from custody after posting $275,000 bail. His initial court appearance is set for Sept. 7.
At last report, Kawelo remained in The Queen’s Medical Center in Honolulu in critical condition.
Wilbur Jr. and Aiwohi were last reported in stable condition at Hilo Medical Center.
Email John Burnett at jburnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com.