A 59-year-old Wahiawa man accused of firing a shotgun multiple times at his ex-girlfriend on Nimitz Highway near Sand Island is facing the possibility of having to spend the rest of his life behind bars with no opportunity for release on parole.

Theodore Kim was in Honolulu District Court on Thursday morning after getting charged with attempted first-degree murder, using a firearm to commit the crime and being a felon in possession of a firearm.

An Oahu grand jury returned an indictment Thursday afternoon charging Kim with the same three crimes plus carrying a firearm without a license or permit and violating a restraining order.

State Circuit Judge Shirley Kawamura set Kim’s bail at $1 million. Attempted first-degree murder carries the state’s highest penalty of a mandatory life prison term with no opportunity for release on parole.

Kim is charged with the crime because the ex-girlfriend had a restraining order against him. She filed for the order Sept. 24 and was granted a temporary restraining order pending a hearing on Monday. Kim was served the order the evening of Sept. 24.

If Kim is found guilty of the lesser attempted second- degree murder, he could still face having to spend the rest of his life behind bars.

Attempted second-degree murder carries a mandatory penalty of life in prison with possible release on parole. The state, however, has served notice that if Kim is found guilty, it will seek an extended sentence to life without parole if he is also found guilty of at least one of the firearm charges or because he already has been convicted of two or more felonies.

Kim has felony convictions involving the ex-girlfriend for terroristic threatening, as well as for assault, theft and drug and drug paraphernalia possession. He also has misdemeanor domestic abuse convictions involving the ex-girlfriend.

Deputy Prosecutor Leigh Okimoto told Kawamura that up until the filing of the TRO, Kim and the ex-girlfriend had been sharing a home in Wahiawa for the past three years. She said Kim approached his ex- girlfriend on Nimitz Highway on Sunday as the ex-girlfriend was walking to a bus stop. She said Kim left after the ex-girlfriend refused to go with him, but Kim returned, firing a shotgun at her.

Okimoto said Kim fired two more shots as the ex-girlfriend was fleeing in traffic on Nimitz Highway. She was not injured.