At autopsy determined that Ka'ahui died as the result of a single rifle blast to the chest, said Lt. Glenn Cuomo of the Maui Police Department.

He said the man was sitting in the passenger seat of a truck outside a home in Koali and an 18-year-old friend was standing outside the vehicle loading a rifle when the gun fired, wounding Ka'ahui, Cuomo said. The victim died before reaching Hana Medical Center.