Police are searching for a suspect in an early Friday morning shooting in the parking lot of the Puainako Town Center in Hilo that left a man dead inside a car.
The victim was identified as 41-year-old Benjamin Craig Davidson of Hilo, police said Friday evening.
An autopsy was performed Friday and concluded Davidson died from multiple gunshot wounds. The manner of death was determined to be homicide.
“We have no identified suspects at this point,” Lt. Rio Amon-Wilkins of the Hilo Criminal Investigations Section said Friday afternoon. “We got a bunch of people out there, trying to get him off the street.”
Officers responded to a report of gunshots in the area shortly after 4 a.m. and found an unresponsive man in a late-model, dark-colored Chevrolet sedan in the parking lot.
Amon-Wilkins said it appeared the Davidson was shot while he was in the vehicle.
Davidson was taken to Hilo Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead. His car was taken into evidence by police.
A light-colored sedan was seen leaving the parking lot shortly after the gunshots were heard.
Amon-Wilkins declined to say how many gunshots were heard or how many shell casings were found by police.
“We’re following up on the tips and canvassing places in the area with video surveillance and doing followups in the area,” Amon-Wilkins said. “That’s how we got a description of the vehicle we’re looking for. But it wasn’t good enough to get a license or any of that stuff.”
Police said the suspect should be considered armed and dangerous.
Anyone with information about this homicide is asked to call the police nonemergency line at 935-3311. Those who prefer anonymity can call Crime Stoppers at 961-8300 and might be eligible for a reward of up to $1,000.
Email John Burnett at jburnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com.
