Stories of violence on Oahu’s West Side have become seemingly routine. If the public becomes numb to them and ultimately writes off the community for its persistently high crime rate, that would be the biggest calamity of all.
At this moment, what happened on Saturday was a searing tragedy for two families in Waianae. In total, four loved ones died in a wave of gunfire, after a simmering neighborhood dispute culminated in a rampage.
Hiram Silva, 58, was killed after he drove a front-loader to ram cars into the home of neighbors having a family gathering, then shot five people, killing three. The man who shot Silva in return was arrested on suspicion of second-degree murder, then released pending further investigation.
The survivors will need professional help and community outreach dealing with the overwhelming grief, but for now require privacy, with the hope that healing, rather than retaliation, will be the result.
That’s for the immediate future, but there’s no denying that the episode is a symptom of a deeper problem, and not only in Waianae. The easy availability of weapons — including unregistered “ghost guns” — could turn any highly charged confrontation into a bloodbath.
The U.S. Supreme Court has enabled concealed-carry laws making guns more present in communities. Authorities still can restrict them in specified areas, and although the heightened risk from more firearms highlights why such oversight is important, regulation offered little protection in this case.
This incident arose from longstanding tension between Silva, who rented out his Quonset hut for large parties, and neighbors on Waianae Valley Road, who have complained in the past. Cars speeding down the road reportedly worried the Keamo family, hosting their own gathering at their home that night. At the end, three women at that gathering were dead and a man and another woman were wounded critically.
Among the many questions that must be answered is whether the large-party rentals of the Quonset hut, the so-called “Silva Dome,” is appropriate for a residential area. To be brought under control, these events would have to be monitored or policed to deter those speeding violations, and Waianae police are already overburdened.
It’s been a jarring August in Waianae, starting with a fatal shooting Aug. 6 at the Waianae Boat Harbor. Then on Aug. 14, a man fired shots into a Waianae neighbor’s house; when he refused to drop his stolen gun, he was shot and killed by police. The next day, a suspect or suspects opened fire on a group and wounded two teenagers in Waianae.
Now September is not starting out auspiciously. Barely a day after Silva’s deadly rampage that left him and three others dead, a 20-year-old man and an 18-year-old woman were arrested Monday after the man pulled a gun on another woman with whom he was arguing.
And the gun violence goes beyond Waianae. The police blotter is filled with cases at, for example, an illegal game room in Wahiawa in May, and in Waipahu in July, with a 22-year-old man firing at, and striking, a 17-year-old boy, a 23-year-old woman and a 24-year-old man.
These are pointlessly horrific outbursts, made all the more distressing because they involve many who are young. Police are painfully aware of the crisis — which only brings more pressure for action for allotting sufficient police and for socioeconomic resources that get to the root of problems.
One small but welcome step toward reducing gun violence was last month’s state-sponsored voluntary gun buyback event; more are needed.
On the more personal, human level, there is hooponopono, the Hawaiian reconciliation process that has been raised in the wake of Saturday’s fury. Helping families find a path to forgiveness may be hard to imagine, but the power of this tradition — and for mediation to deescalate conflicts before violence erupts — should not be ignored.
