Police officers examining evidence inside the house at
95-453 Awiki St. in Mililani around 8:30 p.m. yesterday.
Inside, they found four people dead.
Photo by Kathryn Bender, Star-Bulletin

Homicide detectives early today removed four bodies from the scene, one of them outside a house near a garage entrance.

Awiki Street Parents Randall and Carol Kim died after an estimated 10 shots were fired, sounds neighbors thought were firecrackers, at about 4:30 p.m. in the Kim's two-story home. Several neighbors heard Carol Kim scream.

Orphaned by the incident were the couple's 7-year-old son and 5-year-old daughter.

Michael Lau, Kim's next-door neighbor, and an unidentified fourth person apparently also died in the shooting.

Police initially described the shootings as three homicides and a suicide.

Randall Kim, of 95-453 Awiki St., was a former surfer whose picture appeared on Surfer Magazine cover in the late 1970s. He was a sales representative for Billabong, an Australian company offering surfing products. Carol Kim worked as a service representative for Quantas Airlines, an Australian company.

"I can't imagine anything like this would be possible," said Randall Kim's friend, Warren Bolster, who described the family as friendly, devout Christians who attended North Shore Christian Fellowship.

Kim stored some surfing wear in the garage in front of his house and apparently sold items from his home, according to neighbors.

Police said the incident was a dispute between neighbors, but declined to offer further details.

The incident drew more than 30 neighbors from their homes to nearby street corners behind police lines. Police apparently required the nearest neighbors to evacuate, but allowed others several homes away to remain.

Police surround the house on Awiki St. yesterday with weapons drawn.
Photo by Kathryn Bender, Star-Bulletin

A Honolulu SWAT team arrived at about 6:30 p.m., and at least 10 members surrounded the houses.

Negotiators tried to contact inhabitants, using bullhorns.

Johnson, about five houses from the Kim's, said she decided to stay home and lock up: "I didn't know when I'd be able to get back in."

She saw lights flicker in the Kim's upstairs windows some time after 8:30 p.m. and said she saw people moving about. Police entered the home after attempts to contact residents with bullhorns.

Officers narrowed police lines about 8:40 p.m., allowing neighbors to move closer to the two homes, where police began to gather evidence.

Charee Urata, who turned 15 yesterday, spent most of her birthday evening watching the tragedy from the streets after police asked her family to leave.

Pre-teen boys on bicycles later said they were planning to visit Kim's son when they heard the shots at about 4:30 p.m. But both children were visiting a neighbor's home.

A 12-year-old boy who declined to be identified said a friend's father also heard the shots and told the boys to leave.

Workers from the coroner's office move the last
of the bodies from the home this morning.
Photo by George F. Lee, Star-Bulletin

He said a man in a Honda Civic wanted to buy something, but left when he heard the shots.

The boy also said Lau chased Carol Kim in her house. He said he heard two to three shots, heard her scream and heard about two more shots.

An adult neighbor who declined to be identified said the Kims were good neighbors with charming children who roller-skated. He said Lau was not particularly friendly.

Brian Siador, a 23-year-old script writer who had witnessed a hostage drama about three years ago, remained in his home near the incident.

Police instructed him to lie down on the side of the house away from the neighbors in conflict.

He said he heard shots from the Kim's home and heard a woman scream.

Siador said Mike Lau and his wife had no children and kept to themselves, adding that they had few visitors.