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A man rammed his tractor into several vehicles at a neighbor’s house where a party was being held Saturday on Waianae Valley Road, then opened fire on people as they tried to flee, killing three bystanders before being shot to death by one of the residents, Honolulu police said Sunday.

The 42-year-old resident who shot the suspect was arrested on suspicion of second-degree murder, Lt. Deena Thoemmes said Sunday during a press conference. He was released later Sunday pending investigation and has not been charged, according to HPD.

Correction: An earlier version of this story said he was charged.

Officers responded to the home on Waianae Valley Road just after 11:15 p.m. and found six gunshot victims, including the suspect, she said. Three women, ages 29, 34 and 36, were killed while a 31-year-old man and a 52-year-old woman were injured and remained hospitalized.

The shooting raised new concerns over violence on the Westside after three previous shootings happened in the span of about a week, prompting calls for police and community leaders to do more to address the problem.

The 58-year-old suspect, who has not been identified, opened fire on several people who were in the home’s carport and trying to flee after he rammed the vehicles, Thoemmes told reporters at HPD headquarters.

A 42-year-old resident of the home shot and killed the suspect with a handgun, Thoemmes said. He also was not named, but an arrest log showed 42-year-old Rishard Carnate was arrested at 12:15 a.m. Sunday on suspicion of murder in the second degree.

Witnesses told police that the man driving the tractor was also carrying four 55-gallon drums of an unknown type of fuel on the front loader he was operating and shot rounds into the drums during the incident. 

Honolulu Police Chief Joe Logan said detectives are still investigating whether the guns involved in the incident were registered. 

Honolulu Prosecutor Steve Alm said he would not comment on a matter under investigation.

Logan said this shooting was not a random act but a targeted incident between neighbors, which is more difficult for police to prevent. He called on community members to call 911 when they see something suspicious, such as a family member having an unregistered firearm.

“Very difficult for us to be able to stop a neighbor-on-neighbor dispute,” he said. “But if they called us in advance earlier we could’ve got there to talk through the issue or concern to help them with their situation.” 

Concerns about violence in the area already were on the rise, including the shootings of a 15-year-old boy and 19-year-old man in Waianae on Aug. 15, and a man who shot three people in a Waianae home on Aug. 14 before he was killed by police. A 31-year-old man was fatally shot at the Waianae Boat Harbor on Aug. 6. The shooting caused Waianae High School, which is near the boat harbor property, to go into lockdown on the first day of school.

City and state leaders held a press conference on Aug. 16 during which Logan promised to allocate more police officers to the area. Officials also said officers from the Department of Law Enforcement and Division of Conservation and Resources Enforcement, part of the Department of Land and Natural Resources, would be assisting.

Logan would not say Sunday how many officers are deployed in District 8, the police district that covers the area from Ewa Beach to Kaena Point, but said this weekend was not at 100% staffing. He said the district was fully staffed last week. 

A recent Civil Beat analysis found District 8 has the most uniformed job vacancies of any police district.   

HPD has been working to increase police presence in the area, including by asking reserve officers, who are citizens trained to perform police duties and work a minimum of 20 hours a month, to spend more of their time on the Westside. Logan also said state partners are helping patrol the beach parks and the Waianae Boat Harbor.

But Logan said the shortage in his department, which hovers around 400 vacancies for sworn officers, aren’t to blame for the increase in violence. 

“Staffing shortages don’t cause crime,” he said. “Crime happens because individuals make a choice amongst themselves to do something. We can deter crime from time to time when we are patrolling and in the areas, as we are.”

So far this year there have been five murders and non-negligent manslaughters in District 8, according to Honolulu Police Department’s , which has not yet been updated to include the four recent deaths in Waianae. Killings have increased on the Westside in recent years. Last year, there were 10 murders and non-negligent manslaughters in the region and six in 2022. 

Logan said he did not have a theory for what’s behind the increase in violence on the Westside and said police couldn’t always prevent crimes from happening.

“Unfortunately, criminals are criminals and from time to time they choose to commit a violent act and they may wait for police to pass by,” he said. “As a police officer, you’re trying to be everywhere and help the community, but unfortunately it’s just difficult to do that. And we can’t be in everyone’s home.”

Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi said in a statement that the recurring shootings on the Westside demand urgent action.

“This violence must stop,” the statement says. “I call on our entire community to come together, to look out for one another, and to speak up if they see or hear something that could help prevent another tragedy. Now more than ever, it is crucial that we come together as a community to support one another and take meaningful steps to prevent these tragedies from happening again.”