XEROX SHOOTINGS
THE GUNMAN
Brother, strangerByran Uyesugi's arrest in the deadly
rampage baffles family members
and neighbors in NuuanuBy Rod Ohira
Suspect was denied more gun permits
MORE COVERAGE
Star-BulletinWhen a co-worker told him about the Xerox shooting, Dennis Uyesugi's first concern was for his brother's safety. Minutes later, another co-worker asked him if he was related to the shooting suspect, Bryan Uyesugi.
"I said no but I have a brother named Byran," he said.
It was then that Uyesugi realized his worst fears.
"I was waiting to wake up," he said. "I called 911 and asked them to put me in touch with police."
At the request of state Public Safety Deputy Director Sidney Hayakawa, Uyesugi went to Makiki Heights to assist police with the capture of his brother.
About 45 minutes after the 2:50 p.m. arrest of Byran Uyesugi at Hawaii Nature Center in Makiki for yesterday's killing of seven Xerox employees, Dennis Uyesugi was back at his Easy Street home, haunted by the tragedy.Like everyone else, he wants to know why it happened.
But neither he nor his father, Hiro, can answer that question. Neither saw any indication that something was wrong, though Byran, 40, lived with them in Nuuanu.
Suddenly, Byran Uyesugi seemed like a stranger.
Dennis Uyesugi, 45, said he came home at 8 p.m. Monday and watched television with his brother for three hours.
"He was eating jook and beef laulau, acting normally," Uyesugi said. "He was still up when I went to bed and still in his room when I got up and left for work a little before 6 (yesterday morning)."
Hiro Uyesugi, a retired mail carrier, said his youngest son gave him no indication something was wrong yesterday morning.
"He must have got fired -- I don't know," said Hiro Uyesugi, who learned about the shooting after returning home from grocery shopping at midmorning. "He never said anything this morning."
But Byran Uyesugi, a 1977 Roosevelt High graduate, was quiet and rarely spoke about work at home, his brother said.
He spent most of his free time working on his hobbies -- raising prized koi and goldfish, building furniture and fixing cars.
"I don't think it just happened," Dennis Uyesugi said, indicating his brother might have been holding things inside. "I don't know if it's true, but I heard he was going to be terminated. Maybe it was the last straw, I don't know."
Reflecting on what happened to a family member who everyone saw but perhaps no one really knew, Dennis Uyesugi's aunt, Kay Uyesugi, said: "You really don't know another person. Everyone has an outer self and inner self."
Dennis Uyesugi yesterday spent five hours at Makiki Heights assisting police. He didn't get a chance to talk directly to his brother but did make a tape recording that was used."Basically, I told him we want him to give up. We don't want him or anyone else to get hurt and to listen to the negotiators. I said you got your fish and wood projects waiting for you."
Dennis Uyesugi felt relieved when his brother finally surrendered.
"He's my brother, what he did was wrong -- terribly wrong -- but he's still my brother," Dennis Uyesugi said. "I'm glad he's OK.
"I really feel sorry and bad, but nothing I can say to the family of the seven victims will make up for what my brother did. I say I'm sorry, but that's not going to bring their loved ones back to life."
Richard Wan did not know Byran Uyesugi to be a violent person.
"I've never seen him angry," said Wan, who met Uyesugi through the Honolulu Aquarium Society.
But Byran Uyesugi had previously undergone voluntary anger management counseling for a work-related incident, his father said. Byran Uyesugi allegedly damaged an elevator door, but the criminal property damage case was later dismissed.
"I paid the $1,500 bill for it," Hiro Uyesugi said.
David Kameda, a neighbor, said Byran Uyesugi didn't do drugs. But he had a problem concerning a "spirit" a few years ago.
"He said this spirit was tormenting him, poking him in the brain," Kameda said. "That's why I heard he used to punch the dashboard of his car all the time.
"That was about five or six years ago but I heard it stopped."
Byran Uyesugi usually greeted neighbors but said little more. He was always absorbed in some kind of hobby.
A sharpshooter on the rifle team in high school, he began collecting guns after graduation.
"He went from gun collecting to fishing and making fishing poles," his brother said. "Then he started raising fish and working with wood."
Collectors have offered as much as $700 for one of Byran Uyesugi's prized fish, neighbor Dorothy Kameda said.
Brent Chung, manager of Pets Unlimited, said Byran Uyesugi was a regular visitor to his Kalihi pet store.
"He was a real regular guy, a nice fellow," Chung said. "We used to buy goldfish from him but it wasn't a business; it was more like a hobby."
Suspect was denied
By Debra Barayuga
more gun permits
Star-BulletinThe last time Byran Uyesugi tried to get a permit to acquire a firearm was in January 1994. The application was denied.
He had previously registered 17 firearms -- revolvers, rifles and semiautomatic pistols -- before he tried to get a permit for one more, police said.
But apparently because of an incident involving several co-workers at Xerox that resulted in his arrest in September 1993 for criminal property damage, his application was stamped "denied." The charge was later dismissed.
Since the denial of his application in 1994, Uyesugi could not acquire any more firearms, said police Sgt. John Kamai of the Firearms/Identification Division.
But police could not take away the 17 he had previously registered because they were acquired legally, Kamai said. "We just prevented him from getting more guns."
The only way police could have lawfully seized the firearms is if he had been served with a temporary restraining order or arrested for a felony, crime of violence or illegal sale of a drug.
Temporary restraining orders are issued by the court when the court determines there has been a pattern of harassment including physical or sexual violence, threats of violence, malicious property damage, psychological abuse, stalking or repeated unwanted contract.
There were no temporary restraining orders filed against Uyesugi in District Court. If there were, Uyesugi would have been required by law to surrender his weapons to police.
Convicted felons by law cannot own or possess handguns. Uyesugi has no felony convictions, only a petty misdemeanor for driving under the influence in 1984.
While Hawaii has one of the most stringent firearms laws in the nation, the department will revisit current gun laws to see what changes might be necessary, said Brandon Stone, management analyst with the Honolulu Police Department.
The department has been pushing a couple of firearms proposals in the Legislature for the past three years which call for increased safe-storage requirements and proof of identification when purchasing ammunition.
Yesterday's shooting raises the issue of whether there should be a limit on the number of firearms anyone can own.
"This stuff is not supposed to happen in paradise," said Kamai. "Maybe we need laws on the books that work for us for a change."
In 1996, Hawaii ranked 49th in the nation in its rate of firearm-related deaths, with 4.40 per 100,000 residents, according to rankings compiled by the Violence Policy Center. The national rate was 12.94 per 100,000. That same year, Hawaii ranked 44th in the rate of firearm-related homicides, with a rate of 1.81 per 100,000. Nationally, the rate was 6.02 per 100,000.
To register a firearm in Hawaii, an applicant must be an adult, cannot have a history of mental illness, addiction to alcohol or drugs, or have been judged insane. Anyone convicted of a crime of violence, abuse of a household member, assault or any felony conviction is precluded from acquiring a firearm. State's gun laws among most rigid
In a requirement begun in July 1995, applicants must complete a firearms safety or hunter education course before they can acquire a permit.
Star-Bulletin
