Police let suspect go
in fatal shooting
in Waialua

Police released a 19-year-old Waialua man pending investigation into the shooting death of his high school classmate Thomas "T.K." Kawahakui.

A police Criminal Investigation Division lieutenant would not comment on the reason for the release last night. Earlier in the evening, police said they were expecting to file charges against the suspect in Kawahakui's death.

Police had said the suspect fatally shot Kawahakui three to five times after an argument that started with a series of telephone calls Sunday morning. Kawahakui, 19, was dropped off at the suspect's Waialua house by a friend, according to police.

Homicide Lt. Bill Kato said Sunday that the two men began arguing and fighting on the front lawn. Kawahakui tried to run, but the suspect allegedly ran into his house, got a rifle and fatally shot him, Kato said.

The two men had grown up on the same street and had gone to school together since elementary school.

But the victim's mother said that the two were acquaintances, not close friends.

"This boy wasn't in his inner circle," Jackie Kawahakui said last night. "It wasn't like they ever called each other to do things together as friends."

She said her son was family-oriented and didn't look for trouble. "He made himself available, (asking) 'Do you need help?' at parties, or finishing jobs in construction," she said.