A large yellow front-end loader is still rammed into the side of a partially collapsed carport at the end of rural Waianae Valley Road.

The home, which is tucked down the dead-end street surrounded by farmlands and mountains, is now the site of one of Hawaii’s deadliest shootings. The police cordon that blocked off the area after the weekend killings was gone and not a single police car was in sight in the area Tuesday afternoon.

The violence, which started as a dispute between neighbors and ended up with four people dead including the shooter, left the Westside community reeling as it followed a cluster of other shootings in the area in recent weeks.

“It’s just insanity at its peak,” said Kala-A’na Lindsey, a Waianae resident who said she knows both of the families involved in the melee. “Our community is hurting.”

Tensions began to rise Saturday night over a party being hosted on 58-year-old Hiram Silva’s property in a structure he rented out known as the “Silva Dome,” said Philip Ganaban, chair of the Waianae Coast Neighborhood Board and friend of the families involved.

At around 11:15 p.m., Silva drove the tractor into the home’s carport before opening fire, killing three women and wounding two other bystanders, police said.

A resident of the home, 42-year-old Rishard Keamo Carnate, who was standing in the driveway at the time, shot and killed Silva with a handgun, police said. After police arrived, Carnate was arrested on suspicion of murder in the second degree and released about 20 hours later pending investigation.

Carnate’s attorney Michael Green said his client was defending his home and family and had acted legally.

“This guy had to be stopped before he killed more people,” Green said Tuesday, referring to Silva. “This could’ve been much worse.”

Investigation Underway

Silva often rented out the tubular prefab building, which resembles an airplane hangar, for parties and events that sometimes got rowdy, Ganaban said. The building sits on property that covers about 19 acres at 85-1383 C Waianae Valley Road. County records show the owners as Silva and his wife, Sandra. Sandra Silva declined to comment when reached by phone Tuesday.

Ganaban also said Silva ran his own trucking business and would often spend time with his children and grandchildren.

On Saturday evening, some guests at the party were racing cars up and down the road and burning rubber in the street, Ganaban said.

The Keamo family, which has lived for generations in the house adjacent to the Silvas, was having its own gathering Saturday night, Ganaban said. Family members were worried about the safety of the children and went down to the Silva Dome to ask the guests to stop speeding.

The Keamos had previously talked to Silva about parties in his dome and told him to ask his guests to be respectful, and Silva didn’t like other people interfering with his business, Ganaban said.

Sometime after the Keamos confronted the partygoers, Silva drove the front-end loader onto the Keamo property, he said.

‘This Is A Massacre’

People screamed as they tried to flee when Silva rammed several cars in the carport and began shooting. Police said Sunday that he also shot into four 55-gallon drums on the front loader that were carrying an unknown type of fuel. 

Three women, ages 29, 34 and 36, were killed while a 31-year-old man and a 52-year-old woman were injured, according to police. Their identities have not been released.

Ganaban said those killed were all cousins of Carnate, but he didn’t further identify them.

Carnate’s arrest provoked outrage among many members of the community, although some noted that it was part of the legal process that had to play out. Those sentiments were reflected in comments posted on Civil Beat, with a large number praising the person who shot the suspect as a hero.

“People were upset about that because they felt he shouldn’t have been arrested,” Ganaban said.

Green said Carnate was clearly acting in self-defense.

“This is a massacre that happened in his yard,” he said. “The law is pretty clear you have a right to use deadly force.”

Hawaii statute says that deadly force is justifiable if the individual believes it is necessary to protect themselves from death or serious bodily injury.

But Honolulu Police Chief Joe Logan pointed out Tuesday that Hawaii is not a “stand-your-ground state.” Stand-your-ground laws allow people to defend themselves with lethal force without first trying to escape or retreat from the threatening situation.

He would not comment specifically on Carnate’s arrest, but Logan said anyone who discharges a firearm and injures another person in Hawaii will likely be arrested and investigated. They must be released after 48 hours if no charges are filed. Police then work with the prosecutor’s office to determine whether the suspect will be charged. 

That determination has not yet been made in Carnate’s case, Logan said. 

Honolulu Prosecutor Steve Alm did not respond to a request for comment Tuesday. Alm said Sunday that he does not comment on open investigations.

Logan said the handgun Carnate used was legally registered. Silva had two guns in his possession during the shooting — a pistol and a long gun — and neither was registered, he said. 

Feuding Neighbors

Ganaban said the Keamo and Silva families had disputes going back years, largely over events held at the Silva Dome. The Keamos had brought their concerns to the neighborhood board and the Honolulu Police Department, including reporting Silva for shooting his gun on his property.

About three years ago, Silva threatened to shoot someone in the Keamo family, Green said. 

Logan said Tuesday that police did not receive any calls for service to the Keamo house or any homes in the immediate area in 2024. He did not have information on whether police had responded to the neighborhood in prior years. Lt. Deena Thoemmes said Sunday at a press conference that police responded once to a disagreement between the neighbors in 2023. 

But the Silva Dome has long been a source of frustration for the community. 

Ganaban said it would sometimes hold concerts and other events during the Covid-19 pandemic when the state was under heavy restrictions.

The city’s Department of Planning and Permitting has investigated at least 20 community complaints related to the Silva property since 2001, according to City and County of Honolulu spokesman Ian Scheuring.

In 2015, the city placed a lien on the property, and as of Tuesday, fines against the property totaled $587,250.

In 2021, the department received a complaint about a large tent structure on the property, which was built without a permit. The city issued a notice of violation, but when inspectors repeatedly tried to go onto the land to reinspect, the owners did not respond to their requests. 

The city has issued five notices of violation on the property, and two remain open, one regarding the dome and another for illegal grading, which is the process of reshaping land to prepare it for construction work. 

“Outside of foreclosing on the property, DPP has really taken all of the actions available to them in terms of enforcement,” Scheuring said. 

Carnate’s main concern now is potential retaliation against himself or his family, his lawyer said. Green wants to see more police presence in the neighborhood. 

Logan said he would provide “additional resources” to the district but did not specify how many additional officers would be sent. The district was not at 100% staffing the weekend of the shooting, he said Sunday. 

Green said Carnate is home now but his family is concerned about what could happen next. 

“He’s in shock,” he said. “He gets arrested, he sees family members shot to death in his yard.”

Civil Beat reporter Blaze Lovell contributed to this report.