Honolulu police are investigating a brazen robbery at a residence in Aiea involving an armed thief.

The robbery comes in the aftermath of a violent purse snatching involving armed men in Waikiki and casts a distressing increase in gun- related crimes on Oahu.

Police said a masked female approached five women, ages 51 to 64, and a 37-year-old man in Aiea at about 1:30 a.m. Monday.

Hawaii News Now reported a group of friends were playing mahjong in the garage of a home at the time of the robbery.

Police said the unknown culprit approached the victims, fired one shot and demanded their belongings.

The perpetrator fled with their property in a waiting vehicle with the victims’ belongings. No injuries were reported.

Police have launched a first-degree robbery investigation. There are no arrests at this time.

The Aiea robbery occurred in the wake of a purse snatching in Waikiki where a Japanese visitor was assaulted by an armed thief who struck him in the forehead with the butt of a pistol.

Police said the visitor intervened when two armed thieves targeted his 63-year-old mother and grabbed her bag as they were walking back to their hotel after celebrating her birthday.

Police have said while there has been no increase in crime overall, there is a 20% increase in crimes involving firearms on Oahu.

Honolulu Police Maj. Walter Ozeki, commander of the Criminal Investigation Division, described most of the gun-related cases as crimes of desperation.

Honolulu Police Chief Susan Ballard said they have increased police presence in Waikiki and other parts of Oahu.

In an effort to boost resources throughout the island, the department plans to request an additional $8.7 million for fiscal year 2021, which is slated to include additional staff positions. The Police Department’s current budget is $302 million.

As of Nov. 1 there were 1,873 officers and 270 vacancies.

Ballard said they are looking into adding “foot positions” for Waikiki, Chinatown and Kailua. The department also seeks additional staffing in Kapolei and urban Honolulu due to the population increase in those areas.

There is also a need for more detectives, Ballard said at a recent news conference at the Police Department’s main headquarters. “Our CID and Narcotics-Vice Division has not grown in decades.”

Ballard has been meeting with Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell to discuss the Police Department’s budget.

Caldwell has expressed his commitment to get additional funding and positions for the department. “We’re going to make sure that the Honolulu Police Department gets the resources they need to keep us at the top as one of the safest big cities and to protect all of us. That’s critically important,” he said at the news conference.

Meanwhile, the Police Department continues to find ways to address the staff shortage.

In June the department is expected to have its first “lateral transfer class.” Ballard said, “We will be accepting lateral transfers from the neighbor islands as well as the mainland.”