A Hilo man is in police custody, a suspect in the fatal shooting of two women Monday at a house in downtown Hilo.
The women, one in her 70s and the other in her 40s, are mother and daughter, police Capt. Mitchell Kanehailua said.
The suspect, 34, is the daughter’s boyfriend, he said. The three lived together in the house.
The shooting occurred at 11:20 p.m. Police, responding to several calls of gunshots in the 600 block of Leilani Street, found the two women with apparent gunshot wounds.
They were taken to the Hilo Medical Center where they were pronounced dead. Police are withholding their identities pending positive identification and notification of family.
The suspect was arrested on suspicion of first-degree murder and two counts of second-degree murder.
Two children at the house at the time of the shootings were uninjured and are being cared for by family, police said.
Police were still gathering evidence late Tuesday afternoon and were consulting prosecutors.
In 2007 the suspect was found guilty of misdemeanor abuse of a family member, for which he was sentenced to two days’ confinement and two years’ probation.
He was also convicted in 2007 of harassment, for which he was fined $150 and given six months’ probation.
Police ask that anyone with information on the case call detective Ernest Matsumoto at 961-2379 or email ematsumoto@co.hawaii. hi.us; or detective Joel Field at 961-2381 or email jfield@ co.hawaii.hi.us.
