A 44-year-old Paauilo man will face possible trial for allegedly shooting a 38-year-old Ookala man who described the suspect as a friend “for over 10 years.”

Read more Debutant Suber leads Open with stunning 65, solid start for holder Scheffler

A 44-year-old Paauilo man will face possible trial for allegedly shooting a 38-year-old Ookala man who described the suspect as a friend “for over 10 years.”

After a preliminary hearing Thursday, Hilo District Judge Jeffrey Hawk ruled that probable cause exists to try Kawika Souza for attempted second-degree murder, using a firearm in the commission of a separate felony, and prohibited possession of a firearm and ammunition.

The victim, Kawika Lundburg, took the witness stand with the left side of his head partially shaved and 11 surgical staples holding his scalp intact.

Lundburg said he entered the property on Lower Cane Haul Road where Souza resides at about 9 p.m. July 10 from an upper gate and made his way to the lower end of the large property near a smaller red gate. Lundburg testified he saw Souza, co-defendant Gary Dias-Souza and Dias-Souza’s friend Jim Robinson prior to the alleged shooting.

“I flicked my lighter so they could see me, and (Souza) instantly said, ‘What the f—k are you doing here? Get the f—k out of here,’” Lundburg testified. “He started to come at me, and that’s when I heard Gary (Dias-Souza) say, ‘Shoot him. Shoot him.’ I was running around in a circle and I heard gunshots. I heard about five gunshots, and I thought there was a chance he was shooting on the side of me, and he wasn’t trying to hit me.

“And I got hit in my head from a shot, and I fell to the ground, moaning and making noises. And then, I heard Gary’s voice say, ‘Get up and run. Get up and run.’ And then, I stood up and jumped over the fence. And I ran and stumbled and stood up again. I ran and stumbled and made my way into the bushes.”

“Describe what you felt when you got hit,” said Deputy Prosecutor Cody Frenz.

“I actually felt my ears ringing instantly. I realized I was on the ground, and I was making this weird noise. I was still awake and, yeah, I knew I was hit,” Lundburg replied, adding his left ear “was filling up with blood.”

Lundburg said he took refuge in a pasture with tall Guinea grass and “crawled my way through pig trails.”

“Throughout that whole night, I was losing consciousness, and I would have to lay down and rest before I could even take another step,” he said.

According to court documents, Lundburg removed his bloody clothing because it was a hindrance and made his escape naked.

He testified that he was turned away at two houses but finally made it to his girlfriend’s house at a nearby plantation camp, and she drove him to North Hawaii Community Hospital in Waimea.

“What did the doctor tell you?” Frenz asked.

“I had a skull fracture and bleeding in my brain,” Lundburg replied.

“Did you think that you were going to die that night?” Frenz inquired.

“Yes,” Lundburg said.

Brandon Segal, Souza’s Maui-based court-appointed defense counsel, attempted to have the attempted murder charge dismissed or reduced on the grounds that Souza didn’t shoot Lundburg, but instead hit him in the head with a rifle butt-stock’s metal end-plate.

Read more MLB glance: Max Muncy hits 2-run homer to power Dodgers past Yankees

“Your testimony is that you felt something hit your head?” Segal asked.

“I recognized I got shot in the head, yes,” Lundburg answered.

“You didn’t see him shoot you, did you?” Segal queried.

“My back was turned, I was running, and I know he wasn’t close enough to touch me,” Lundburg replied.

The only other witness in Thursday’s hearing was Acting Detective Jayce Carvalho of the Hawaii Police Department, the arresting officer.

Carvalho said he executed a search warrant on the property where Souza lives July 12 and found a loaded Winchester .22 caliber rifle, additional active rounds, and six spent casings on the ground inside the property’s red gate.

According to Carvalho, the firearm “was not registered to anyone, not even the defendant.”

“It was last registered back in, I believe the year was 1979 — Honolulu Sporting Goods,” he testified.

Under questioning by Frenz, Carvalho said Souza isn’t legally allowed to possess a firearm because of a misdemeanor domestic abuse conviction in 2019. Carvalho added he found the spent casings where Lundburg said the shooting occurred.

“I was able to find the first casing,” he said. “And then, approximately three to five feet from the first casing, was another one that was leading more towards the gate which Lundburg described to be running towards at the time when he was getting shot at. So, progressively moving forward toward the gate.”

Hawk ordered Souza, who didn’t take the stand, to appear at 8:30 a.m. July 28 before Hilo Circuit Judge Henry Nakamoto for arraignment and plea and maintained his bail at $1.64 million.

Dias-Souza, 67, appeared separately. His defense counsel, Jacob Delaplane — who had just accepted a court appointment — asked for a week’s postponement to prepare, which was granted.

Hawk ordered Dias-Souza to return at 2 p.m. July 23 for a preliminary hearing, and maintained his $100,000 bail for criminal solicitation of the alleged murder attempt.

Both Souza and Dias-Souza remain in custody at Hawaii Community Correctional Center.

Read more Hilo man gets 10 years for possessing child porn in ‘Cultists’ case

Email John Burnett at [email protected].