It’s hard to imagine, but the fateful bullets somehow managed to take more than just the life of Hawaii Police Officer Bronson Kaliloa on July 17.
The life of the fallen officer from Puna, reportedly claimed by listless criminal Justin Waiki, should have been more than enough tragedy for the island to endure. But somehow, for some reason, it wasn’t.
The roar of bullets kicked off a 60-hour manhunt that left the shooter dead, more people injured, including Sgt. Bryan Tina, and an island terrified. Ripped apart, too, was a piece of West Hawaii’s innocence.
“I really wonder about us as a people,” Mayor Harry Kim said the day after Kaliloa, the married father of three, died. “Why are we like this?”
We’re not sure. But some are like that. And we, in West Hawaii, aren’t immune to it.
We were always the side of the paradise island where Napoopoo Road leads tourists to sun-soaked Kealakekua Bay and the Captain Cook Monument. It was never supposed to be the South Kona street where officers would shoot more than 10 rounds at a fleeing suspect in the middle of a neighborhood.
But it was.
After Waiki was reportedly spotted driving in Kailua-Kona, officers followed a truck driven by Harvey Damo Jr. to Ka Hale Kahaluu off of Mokolea Street near Keauhou. When approached, Damo Jr. reportedly fled the scene where an officer discharged three to four shots. More officers joined the pursuit and 10 more shots were fired on Napoopoo Road before the pursuit ended near Keei Road. There, an injured Damo Jr. and another suspect were apprehended.
It was a Hollywood scene we’re not used to. But unfortunately it played out near the area where Thomas Ballesteros Jr. was gunned down on Painted Church Road just a few weeks before.
Brian Smith Jr. is facing murder charges in the June 23 mele.
What’s worrisome is that it’s still unclear whether Damo Jr. was actually a part of Waiki’s at-large run at all. The shootout, it appears, could have been over a run-of-the-mill car theft. That’s still undetermined, but initial reports from court proceedings indicate it’s a strong possibility.
It’s understood how high tensions ran those 60 hours. Residents locked their doors, while officers and scores of others were heartbroken and enraged.
We don’t know if there is a lesson here. Perhaps one from which we can learn is how Waiki was out on the street in the first place. Here was a man with 37 arrests and 16 convictions, three of which were felonies and included firearm and drug offenses. It seems too many people in the system gave him too many chances. Let’s start there.
We’re thankful Waiki didn’t take anyone else’s life before his misery was brought to an end.
But in the aftermath, we’re looking around perplexed, just like the mayor, on why humans turn out like this.
We don’t know. But we know West Hawaii isn’t immune to any of it. It’s part of our backyard, too. Those shots ripped apart our cove-like serenity, and the scars will be slow to heal.