Chinatown shooter on loose after killing man

A deadly shooting in Chinatown left many in the area shaken Thursday as police searched for a male suspect in the second fatal shooting on Oahu this week.

Police said the 34-year-old victim was shot multiple times at about 11:48 p.m. Wednesday in front of Maunakea Liquor &Grocery store at 1161 Maunakea St.

The victim was on foot when he was approached by a man with a handgun who fled after shooting him multiple times in the torso, Maj. Larry Lawson of the Honolulu Police Department’s Criminal Investigation Division said Thursday.

Paramedics transported the victim in critical condition to a trauma hospital, where he was later pronounced dead at 12:29 a.m.

Friends and family identified the victim as Isaac Mamea and held a candlelight vigil Thursday night at the scene.

“My brother, he had a good heart,” said his sister Fia Amani. “He loved his family. He always stood for his family.”

Joshua Marquez, who organized the vigil, described his cousin: “He’s a happy guy, always with the family, makes people laugh. He always get our back. He’s a good boy.”

Others said Mamea was a churchgoer, generous, always kind, outgoing and very social. He was a fisherman and also worked in construction.

The family said Mamea, who lived nearby in Kapalama, had just gotten off work and was with his girlfriend when they stopped at the store for something to eat, Marquez said.

Marquez said the shooting “could be random. This is a bad place here.”

A video taken by an area resident shortly after the shooting showed first responders administering CPR to the victim, who was lying on the sidewalk in front of the store entrance.

Police said the suspect fled on foot and entered a white hatchback vehicle that drove off.

Some members of the Downtown-Chinatown Neighborhood Board said Thursday that the section of Maunakea Street where the shooting occurred has long been on the police radar because of drug dealing.

“We’re trying to improve the image of Chinatown, and this kind of thing happens,” said board member Dolores Mollring. “We go one step forward and three back.”

Chu Lan Shubert-Kwock, president of the Chinatown Business and Community Association and member of the neighborhood board, said, “It’s very devastating for all of us.”

A worker at Maunakea Liquor &Grocery declined to comment on the shooting.

Police have initiated a second-degree murder investigation. Lawson said they have recovered surveillance video from the area.

The suspect is described as African-American, 5 feet 6 inches tall and about 240 pounds, wearing a dark hooded jacket.

Wednesday’s shooting was the second deadly shooting on Oahu in less than a week.

At about 5:45 a.m. Saturday in Waikiki, a man carrying a rifle shot about seven to 10 rounds into a crowd standing outside Club Alley Cat.

Maleko Remlinger, 22, was killed and two men were injured.

An Oahu grand jury indicted Jordan A. Smith, 18, Wednesday in connection with the Waikiki shooting.

He was charged with second-degree murder, first-­degree attempted murder and firearm offenses. Smith remains in custody in lieu of $1 million bail.

The last fatal shooting in Chinatown occurred in September 2016 during a robbery at a gameroom. Tara Tavega, 44, was killed by a shot to her chest, and a 25-year-old man was injured. The shooting occurred at Cuties Cafe, 36 N. King St. Alabanza Tuimalealiifano was charged with manslaughter in Tavega’s death.

Authorities are asking witnesses to Wednesday’s shooting to call police.