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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Friday, June 27, 2003

Intruder shoots Punchbowl man

By Allison Schaefers
Advertiser Staff Writer

A 43-year-old man was shot in the chest by an intruder who broke into the man's home on the slopes of Punchbowl yesterday afternoon.

Police work the scene of a shooting at a Punchbowl residence in which an intruder shot a 43-year-old man. Daylight burglaries aren't uncommon in the area, but residents said they don't recall any burglary-related shootings.

Eugene Tanner • The Honolulu Advertiser

The Puowaina Drive resident was taken to The Queen's Medical Center where he was listed in critical condition, police said.

A 17-year-old suspect was arrested less than an hour later at a stream along Bates Street near Hawai'i Baptist Academy.

The suspect was arrested on suspicion of attempted homicide and burglary, police said.

Police said they retrieved a pistol somewhere between the victim's house and where the suspect was arrested.

Daylight burglaries are not uncommon in the area, which residents said has been hit by numerous break-ins in recent months. But a burglar shooting a resident is considered rare on O'ahu.

Police said that the victim was shot when he came home and found the intruder in the house.

Connie Knighton, who lives nearby, said she did not hear any shots, but heard shouts for help from across the street at about 4:30 p.m. When she went to the victim's home, she found him lying in a pool of blood on the stoop outside his house.

Knighton said the man was coherent and told her, "There's someone in my house and they've shot me."

The neighbor said she and about four or five other neighbors waited with the critically injured man until police arrived.

Officer Antonio Perry, one of the first officers to the scene, stayed with the victim until an ambulance arrived.

"He was coherent, he was talking," Perry said. "(He was) in pain, more in shock, I think."

The victim was shot on the left side of his chest and the bullet was still inside him as of late last night, a family member said.

"At this point, he's stabilized," the family member said. "He's holding his own."

Police did not say how many shots had been fired.

Neighbors described their community as a high-crime area, but said they don't recall any burglary-related shootings. Six months ago, six homes in the neighborhood were burglarized in one afternoon, and cars are routinely broken into and most of the homes have full security systems, they said.

The Puowaina Drive home had been robbed once before and wrought-iron bars were put on all the windows as a result, a family member said.

A neighbor describing the scene yesterday to the family member said the burglar cut through the bars of one of the bedroom windows to enter the home.

"This was just one of those disgusting things that happens," Knighton said. "I'm praying that this man will pull through."

She said the neighbors support and help one another, but are at a loss on how to reduce crime in the area.

"What can we do?," she said. "We're all supportive, but we can't sleep in our cars."

Advertiser staff writer Zenaida Serrano Espanol contributed to this report.