Posted on: Thursday, December 6, 2001

16-year-old boy fatally shot in Mililani

By Brandon Masuoka
Advertiser Staff Writer

Police last night arrested a man in connection with the fatal shooting of 16-year-old boy who was found in the man's rented Mililani apartment yesterday.

Police responded to the Waikalani Woodlands apartments at 95-257 Wai-kalani Drive just after 4 p.m. yesterday and found the boy in a sixth-floor apartment with a single gunshot wound to his chest, said Homicide Lt. Bill Kato.

The boy was rushed to Wahiawa General Hospital where he died, Kato said.

Three other people were inside the apartment at the time, including the renter, and they were taken to the Wahiawa police station for questioning.

Later, police arrested the renter of the apartment on suspicion of second-degree murder and were searching for the gun used in the shooting, Kato said. They were waiting for a search warrant so they could search the apartment.

The investigation began after police received a call just after 4 p.m. saying that a shooting occurred on Kamehameha Highway and that the victim was taken to the apartment, Kato said. He said police were trying to find out who made the call.

Kato said no blood was found in the car the victim was supposedly in, or in the apartment's elevator.

Chris Ringling, who lives in apartment 503, said the victim was named Robert Rhoda. He said Rhoda and his friends "hung out" by the swimming pool but they did not cause any trouble.

Lindsay Pipes, who lives in apartment 703, said she heard what sounded like a gunshot or car backfire at about 4:15 p.m. She said she didn't hear anything else.