Police say that a man — identified by neighbors as Paris Oda — stabbed his wife and their children to death before turning the blade on himself. (Screenshot: KITV)
In what is Hawaii‘s most devastating mass killing since 1999, a local man stabbed his wife and their three children to death at their home, say cops in the city of Honolulu.
Officers did not name the people involved, but neighbors reportedly named the suspect as chiropractor Paris Oda, and his wife as Naoko Oda.
They lived in the second-floor unit of a home in the Manoa neighborhood, according to Hawaii ABC affiliate KITV. The downstairs neighbors of the home had reportedly left for Japan on Saturday.
Police said in a press conference and social media posts that authorities received a 911 call Sunday at approximately 8:30 a.m. from an anonymous caller. When police arrived, officers initially did not have enough information to enter the residence because there was no one to meet, police Lt. Deena Thoemmes said. There was soon a second call when they realized what happened.
“Witnesses report that there was an argument in the home early this morning,” they said.
Officers found the husband, wife, and their three children — ages 10, 12, and 17 — dead in the home. They believe the husband stabbed his family before turning the blade on himself.
Thoemmes said they found no history of domestic violence, and are still investigating the motive.
Chief Joe Logan said there was nothing prior to that 911 call at 8:30 a.m.
“I’m just back in from a flight this morning, and my cousin who lives with me here, she just texted me and said a homicide had happened, or something,” one of the family’s neighbors, Hiro Izumo, told KITV. “This is a super quiet neighborhood. Nothing ever happens here. It’s so quiet, you could walk around at night and not care. I just know they’re a younger family. They’re friendly neighbors. No problems with them ever.”
Police acknowledged that this second worst mass murder in Hawaii’s modern history — a shooter killed seven men at the Xerox building on Nov. 2, 1999: Jason Balatico, Ford Kanehira, Ronald Kataoka, Ronald Kawamae, Melvin Lee, Peter Mark, and John Sakamoto.
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