The father of a 29-year-old man accused of the nonfatal shooting of another man Tuesday evening on the Salvation Army’s Honokaa campus was a witness to the shooting, according to court documents filed by police.
Brad Shibata, 48, told police he and 39-year-old Arthur Franklin were barbecuing on the side of the Salvation Army building on Rickard Place when Shibata’s son, Keola Jay Whitehead-Shibata, approached them with a handgun and shot Franklin in the neck, the documents state.
Shibata allegedly heard his son say to Franklin, “You like pick on kids,” and then Whitehead-Shibata pulled the trigger four more times. According to documents, the gun didn’t discharge.
Shibata told police Franklin tried to get away after being shot, but fell face down in the grass. Whitehead-Shibata then allegedly pointed the firearm at Franklin and shot him in the head.
Another witness, a 34-year-old man, reportedly told officers that earlier in the day, Whitehead-Shibata said he was upset with Franklin because “Arthur like touch kids,” and that he was going to shoot Franklin.
A third witness, a 35-year-old man, reportedly told police Whitehead-Shibata showed him a cellphone video of him pointing an unknown object at Franklin. The witness allegedly said he heard a gunshot and then the video stopped.
And Franklin himself told officers Whitehead-Shibata shot him twice with a revolver. At last report, Franklin was still hospitalized in stable condition at The Queen’s Medical Center in Honolulu.
Whitehead-Shibata, who fled the scene on foot, was arrested in Honokaa on Wednesday morning and charged with attempted second-degree murder, use of a firearm in the commission of a separate felony, and being a felon in possession of a firearm.
At Whitehead-Shibata’s initial court appearance Friday, Hilo District Judge Kanani Laubach maintained his bail at $1.075 million and ordered him to return Tuesday for a preliminary hearing.
Email John Burnett at jburnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com.
