DENNIS ODA / DODA@STARBULLETIN.COM
Police reviewed a photo of a gun found on the lawn just inside the entrance of the Hawaii Baptist Academy Elementary Campus yesterday. The weapon was allegedly used in the shooting of a Punchbowl man during a burglary, police said.
Punchbowl man
shot at home
in burglaryThe teenage suspect is caught
after a chase involving officers
and the police helicopter
Honolulu police arrested a 17-year-old male who they say shot a Punchbowl man yesterday during a botched burglary in the man's home.
The victim, 43-year-old Eric Kawamoto, was shot in his home at 1986-A Puowaina Drive at 4:30 p.m. after he "interrupted a burglary in progress," said Honolulu police Lt. Tom Grossi.
Kawamoto was in stable condition last night at the Queen's Medical Center.
Several of Kawamoto's neighbors said they heard him yelling and ran over to find him lying down in front of his house, bleeding from an apparent gunshot wound to his chest.
"I did hear the man call for help, and he was alert enough to tell me that someone was in his house and shot him," said Connie Knighton. "He was bleeding profusely.
"I just prayed the ambulance got there on time."
Another neighbor called 911, and Kawamoto was taken to the Queen's Medical Center in critical condition. His condition was later upgraded.
Police scoured the area for the suspect, who ran away through Punchbowl, Pauoa and Nuuanu. Police said the suspect ran through back yards to Nuuanu Avenue, made a left on Bates Street, then ran into the grounds of Hawaii Baptist Academy Elementary Campus, several blocks from Puowaina Drive.
Officers from the Downtown/Punchbowl and Kalihi districts were involved in the search, as were the police helicopter and off-duty officers who lived in the area.
Police caught the suspect at 5:21 p.m. in a canal behind the academy.
One officer was treated for minor injuries to his hand that happened during the chase.
The suspect also told police that he was injured. He was taken to Queen's for medical treatment.
DENNIS ODA / DODA@STARBULLETIN.COM
A woman talked with police yesterday in front of the Puowaina Drive home where a resident was shot during a botched burglary. The man was taken to a hospital in critical condition.
Police recovered a handgun in the school's courtyard.
Police arrested the suspect for suspicion of burglary and attempted murder.
He was being held at police headquarters on Beretania Street and was expected to be transferred to the Alder Street Detention Home later.
Kawamoto's neighbors said that while they are used to property crime, the violence that accompanied it yesterday was something new.
Knighton said her home has been broken into and her car tires were stolen recently and that she had a car stolen last year, "but we weren't thinking about that just then when we saw him lying there."
