Family attacked in Waianae mass shooting sues city over lax enforcement
HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – The family of three women killed in a mass shooting in Waianae two years ago is suing the city and the widow of the gunman.
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Attorneys for the Keamo family say failures to enforce criminal law and building codes led to the killer’s rampage.
Federal civil rights case filed
Along with a lawsuit in state court, the Keamo family’s attorneys filed a civil rights case in federal court, saying the actions of police and other city agencies were negligent enough to set the stage for the fatal violence.
“There were threats to kill our clients. They just passed the buck,” attorney Michael Green said.
The 2024 shooting
On Aug. 31, 2024, Hiram Silva drove a bulldozer loaded with fuel barrels into his neighbors’ house during a mah jongg party, then opened fire. He killed three young women, Courtney Raymond-Arakaki, Cherell Keamo and Jessyca Amasiu, and wounded two others.
“I had a lot of, I guess, guilt that I couldn’t help my cousins,” Moon Keamo said shortly after the incident.
Using a gun he bought because of Silva’s threats, Rishard Keamo-Carnate shot Silva in self-defense.
“I still try to not let it haunt me,” he said a year later.
“The post-traumatic injuries are lifelong for our clients,” Green said.
Allegations against the city
Attorneys Green and Peter Hsieh say the so-called “Silva Dome” was at the root of the tragedy.
The lawsuit says the Silvas built it illegally in about 2018 and rented it out for parties for between $3,000 and $5,000 a night. The party venue was unpermitted and would have been illegal on agricultural property, and there were other serious violations during COVID.
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Complaints about a party during that time led to this threat from Silva the family recorded in April 2021: “I tired of (inaudible) with you guys already. You guys all dead. Not today or tomorrow.”
The lawsuit says the city building department told the Silvas the dome was illegal and should be removed in April 2021, but the city did not enforce the order despite additional complaints.
The mass shooting happened after the Keamos confronted the Silvas about reckless driving during another party.
“Highly likely that the shooting would not have occurred if the DPP, Department of Planning and Permitting, had done its job, and HPD as well,” Hsieh said.
“They were making a lot of money with this dome and I think our clients were a threat,” Green said.
The lawsuit states, “The tragedy of August 31, 2024 was not unforeseeable. It was inevitable. The City’s inept affirmative actions and refusal to enforce even the most basic laws allowed the Silvas’ misconduct to escalate unchecked, emboldening Hiram and placing Plaintiffs and their families in heightened daily peril.”
City, police respond
The city and Silva’s widow declined to comment. Honolulu Police Chief David Lazar said, “I need to know more about it and if we got it right, we got it right. But if we got it wrong, we need to apologize and we need to be better, but I do not know any circumstances around this case and I need to get up to speed.”
The city is expected to argue in federal court that even if police and city agencies neglected their duty, that does not rise to the level of a civil rights violation. That will be the first test for the case.
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