WAINANE VALLEY, Hawaii — The Waianae Valley “neighbor-on-neighbor dispute” that ended with four people dead Saturday night started with complaints about cars speeding to and from a nearby commercial party site owned by a 58-year-old man who responded with a violent rampage, according to a representative of the targeted family.
The man who shot five people — three fatally — before being shot and killed himself was businessman Hiram Silva, according to Waianae Neighborhood Board Chair Philip Ganaban, speaking for the Keamo family.
According to the Honolulu Police Department’s account, after a dispute with his neighbors, a 58-year-old man used a front loader to ram multiple cars into their home, where a family gathering was taking place. The suspect then fatally shot three women, ages 36, 34 and 29, and critically injured a 31-year-old man and a 52-year-old woman, who were hospitalized, police said.
According to HPD, a 42-year-old resident of the home being attacked returned fire, killing the 58-year-old attacker.
The 42-year-old was arrested on suspicion of second-degree murder at the scene but was released Sunday night “pending further investigation,” police said Monday.
Silva, who lived in a home along Waianae Valley Road, frequently rented out his Quonset hut — commonly referred to as “Silva dome” — for large parties that often drew hundreds of attendees, according to area residents.
Neighbors along Waianae Valley Road, who requested anonymity for safety reasons, said these parties could be loud and occurred as often as once a week.
Ganaban, speaking on behalf of the Keamo family, who were not ready to speak to the media, confirmed there was a party at the dome on Saturday night. The event caused safety concerns as cars sped up and down the road, while the Keamo family was also hosting a family gathering next door, he said.
The Keamo family approached the partygoers to request that they stop speeding, but Silva retaliated by driving a Komatsu loader onto the Keamo property and ramming cars into the house multiple times, Ganaban said.
According to Ganaban, when the machine stalled, Silva exited the loader and began shooting at the Keamo family.
Ganaban said the two survivors underwent successful surgery Sunday but remained in the intensive care unit.
HPD Homicide Lt. Deena Thoemmes said Sunday that witnesses reported the front loader was carrying four 55-gallon drums filled with an “unknown fuel” and that the driver had fired several rounds into the drums.
Videos surfaced on social media showing the Waianae Valley shooting, with audio capturing the sound of a woman shouting, “Dad, put the gun down, Dad. Dad, put the gun down, Dad,” shortly after the front loader rammed the house and just before a barrage of shots were fired.
Neighbors and Ganaban said they suspect that the female voice in the audio is Silva’s daughter, but this has not been confirmed.
Silva was then fatally shot.
Honolulu Police Chief Arthur “Joe” Logan on Sunday described the latest incident as a “neighbor- on-neighbor dispute,” emphasizing that it was unrelated to the recent string of shootings on Oahu’s West side, which have prompted increased law enforcement presence and community outreach to combat gun violence. He also stressed that the incident was not a random act.
Ganaban also noted that the altercation wasn’t an isolated incident.
He said while the Keamo family hadn’t had issues with the Silva family directly, they had ongoing problems with the people who rented out the Silva dome.
“The issue has been with the dome renters, who show no respect and keep speeding up and down the road, disturbing the neighbors,” Ganaban said. “The family didn’t have a problem with the Silvas renting out the dome or with their family. The problem was with the people they rented to, who have no respect for anyone on that road. You can see the burn marks all over the road.”
Ganaban said the Keamo family had complained about the parties at the Silva dome for some time, whether to the neighborhood board or to HPD, but nothing had been done.
Steve Rohrmayr, 81, who lives up the road, told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser that he was reading on Saturday night when he heard gunshots.
“At first I didn’t think much of it because we hear a lot of gunshots in the area. I dozed off and woke up to find cops in the area,” he said.
Rohrmayr said that while residents often shoot guns and set off fireworks, such noises have not previously been associated with violence. He noted that in his time living on Waianae Valley Road, the Saturday incident was the most violent event he has been close to, followed by the fatal shooting at the Waianae Small Boat Harbor on Aug. 6.
A Waianae Valley Road resident who lives near the Keamo and Silva properties said that while the noise from parties could be loud, he didn’t hear much on Saturday. However, he was aware of tensions between the two families. He mentioned that he doesn’t know the families well, but has never had any personal problems with either of them.
Ganaban described Silva as a “nice man” but said he had heard of Silva having altercations with others in the past.
Another neighbor described the Keamo family as “super nice and super humble, good people,” expressing sympathy for the family’s need to grieve their losses and injuries after a single night of violence.
The woman acknowledged that while high- profile crime has been an issue in the community recently, she has lived there for decades and still considers Waianae her home, with no plans to move elsewhere.
“These things happen anywhere, and I would rather live out here than anywhere else on Oahu,” she said.
She also questioned whether the Silva dome was permitted to host parties, given that the area along Waianae Valley Road is zoned for agriculture.
City Council member Andria Tupola acknowledged that issues with the Silva dome have been ongoing, but suggested that Silva may have had a conditional use permit from the state Department of Permitting and Planning, like the one held by Kapila Gardens, a wedding venue on the same road.
Ganaban said the legitimacy of the Silva dome and its operations will continue to be a topic of discussion at neighborhood board meetings.
He said he has not reached out to the Silva family, and the Star-Advertiser was unable to make contact with them.
Tupola said she was able to reach out to both families but that she does not want to speak on behalf of the Silva family.
“I’m just hoping that through this, people who are uninvolved (in the incident) can stay uninvolved, and the people who are involved can get the services and the help that they need,” Tupola said. “Because, seriously, that event was so traumatizing. When I talked to the families about it, I just cried the whole time — hearing how it happened, how they felt about it, and there were kids over there on the property, too.
“When the time is right, we’re going to go in and help these guys with mental health services, therapy and everything. This is going to last the rest of their lives.”
