Honolulu police are investigating a possible attempted robbery in Kakaako in which a 46-year-old man suffered a gunshot wound to the chest.
At about 4:20 a.m. Tuesday, police responded to a medical assistance call at 532 Cummins St.
Homicide Lt. Phillip Lavarias said officers discovered a 46-year-old man with a gunshot wound inside a unit above a strip club, Club Sun.
“We don’t know what led up to the shooting,” Lavarias said. “We’re interviewing multiple people that were in the area at the time.”
There were conflicting reports on the man’s condition. Lavarias said he was transported in “extremely critical condition” to a hospital, while Emergency Medical Services said he was in serious condition.
No arrests had been made in connection with the shooting as of Tuesday afternoon.
Police shut down a section of Cummins Street from Waimanu to Kawaiahao streets Tuesday morning as detectives investigated. Law enforcement personnel were observed carrying evidence out of the building in brown paper bags.
Lavarias said the building is subdivided into about three businesses.
Club Sun closes at 2 a.m., and area residents and business owners say they have seen a slew of inebriated individuals spilling out of the building at about 6 a.m. at least twice a week.
Ryan Tam, chairman of the Ala Moana/Kakaako Neighborhood Board, said a lot of drinking and shouting goes on at the establishment. Tam resides at Pacifica Honolulu, a high-rise that overlooks Cummins Street.
Board members planned to discuss concerns about the Cummins Street property at their regular meeting Tuesday night.
During a phone interview, board member Robert Armstrong, another resident of the Pacifica, described the shooting as a “tipping point.”
“If this isn’t a wake-up signal to the police, to City Council and to the folks of Kakaako, I don’t know what is. This isn’t isolated. This isn’t unusual. This is becoming more and more serious, and we’ve got to do something and it’s got to be done now,” he said.
Armstrong said he planned to urge police at the meeting to start working with groups like the neighborhood board to make Kakaako safe. “We need to have a sense that everything is in check.”
Tuesday’s shooting is the second in the area in the past four months.
At about 5:45 a.m. Dec. 24, a 39-year-old man sustained a gunshot wound near Club Sun. EMS transported the man in serious but stable condition to a hospital.
A stabbing occurred in the same area in December 2014. A 26-year-old man was arrested in connection with that case.
