One man put an end to a deadly mass shooting that could have easily claimed more victims, but he may be made to live as a prisoner because of this heroic act.
The situation erupted Saturday evening at the Honolulu, Hawaii, home of 42-year-old Rishard Carnate.
While a party was underway at the residence, witnesses said a front-end loader carrying 55-gallon drums, later determined to contain fuel, rammed through the home’s gate and began pushing cars into the structure. As terrified partygoers fled the crumbling house, the man inside the loader opened fire on them.
“I was just sleeping and then it was like bah bah bah bah guns going off, so I woke up it kept going off, just bah bah bah bah, and then some lady was yelling ‘help, help, help,’” a neighbor told KHON-TV, “and it sounded like someone was getting shot, you know?
“Then it stopped for a while and it started up again, bah bah bah bah.”
Carnate survived the initial assault and engaged the shooter, identified as 59-year-old Hiram Silva.
The engagement left Silva gutshot, according to Honolulu Civil Beat, a wound that ended the killing spree and proved fatal for him.
Three women, 34-year-old Courtney Raymond-Arakaki, 36-year-old Cherell Keamo and 29-year-old Jessyca Amasiu were killed in the shooting. Two others, a 31-year-old male and a 52-year-old female, were injured by gunfire, but survived alongside the homeowner.
It’s unknown whether Silva had other targets in mind after killing partygoers.
Should Carnate face charges?
But for Carnate, who was forced to take a human life to defend his friends’ lives and his own, the situation soon became even worse just hours later.
Shortly after the shooting, the Honolulu Police Department booked Carnate on suspicion of second-degree murder. His booking was logged just after midnight on Sunday.
“In Hawaii, we are a non ‘stand your ground’ state,” Honolulu Police Chief Joe Logan said, according to the Associated Press.
“Even if you have a license to carry, if you’re an individual that discharges a firearm that is involved in injuring another person … you’re going to be arrested.”
Carnate has since been released amid the ongoing investigation.
Officials have not yet announced whether they intend to pursue charges against Carnate for halting a violent rampage, or whether the guns involved are registered firearms.
It’s believed that Silva’s rampage was a neighborhood dispute that spiraled out of control.
According to Hawaii News Now, it may have been sparked over guests “burning rubber” at Silva’s nearby property and attendees of Carnate’s party confronting him.
“Hiram was really quiet guy and he always had ways of doing things, not Kosher or how you say it?” Philip Ganaban, a neighborhood board member, said. “He would fire off his gun, get drunk fire off his gun but he’s never combat it and point it [at] people.”
Ganaban said the family had previously complained about rowdy parties on Silva’s property, even dating back to the pandemic, when large gatherings were banned.
“According to the family, there was a lot of intimidation that was going on, but he never physically came out and did anything,” he said, according to the news outlet.
“So, he would shoot his gun, he would make noises, shine his spotlight around the property, but he never came out and said, ‘I am going to kill you guys, I am going to do this to you guys.’”
