The fatal shooting of a 35-year-old man yesterday morning may have stemmed from an earlier confrontation at a bar, police said.

Homicide Lt. Bill Kato said the victim was at a bar earlier that night with three friends and argued with the man who allegedly shot him. Police said they do not know what the argument was about.

Following the argument, both men left the bar in separate vehicles and ended up in the same parking lot on Rycroft Street, which may have been a coincidence, Kato said.

The victim arrived in a white Lincoln Navigator, and the suspect in a blue import with chrome rims.

The victim's group tried to enter Seoul Karaoke, which closes at 4 a.m., but never made it inside, police said.

Another argument ensued between the two men when the suspect, who was believed to be alone, pulled out a gun and fired several shots into the air and ground before shooting the victim in the chest at 4:19 a.m.

Police said witnesses heard five shots fired, but investigators have not confirmed how many rounds were used.

Paramedics took the victim to the Queen's Medical Center where he was pronounced dead. The medical examiner has not released the victim's identity.

Police were looking for the suspect, described as a man in his late 20s to early 30s, husky, about 200 pounds and about 5 feet 10 inches tall. He was wearing a white T-shirt and dark jeans and fled the scene driving a blue imported car with chrome rims.

  Black shards of glass from the rear window of the Lincoln Navigator remained in the parking lot yesterday afternoon, while residents and businesses carried on as usual.

Dae An, a worker at Dong Hwa Shopping Center, opened the shop at 10 a.m. yesterday and seemed surprised that a homicide occurred right outside the store.

“;Sometimes in the morning there's drinking, fighting, young people,”; An said. “;Normally this area is OK.”;

Several residents from the apartment complex next door said that there are often fights in the parking lot where the victim was killed.

“;This place brings in a lot of fights, a lot of noise. It's such a common thing over there. Just last week there was a big fight,”; said a resident who wished to remain anonymous. He heard that one of the patrons at the karaoke establishment wielded a gun last week and that police were called to the scene; however, police could not confirm that.

“;Last week was the first time we saw the yellow tape go up, but this time the yellow tape was around the whole complex,”; he said.

Police Maj. Clayton Kau said this is Oahu's 12th homicide for 2009, compared with 13 at the same time last year.