HONOLULU (KHON2) — The family says the victim in Tuesday night’s shooting at Iroquois Point is recovering and is now in stable condition. The man accused of shooting her is dead.
Neighbors say they’re shocked this happened in their community, and to a woman many of them know.
Residents in the Kapilina Beach Homes in Ewa Beach say Tuesday night’s gunshots sounded like fireworks at first. But they eventually realized what was happening.
“For me at least, I’ve never experienced something like this before that has happened,” said Kyler Ibana, Kapilina Beach Homes resident. “And you know just hearing it go off was kind of crazy as it is.”
Family members and residents identified the victim as 24-year-old Francesca Minotta Kelso, who worked as a pool attendant at Kapilina. She just finished her shift when police say a 31-year-old man apparently got into an argument with her and shot her multiple times in the torso and legs.
“The fact that anyone would even do this to her just blows my mind because she’s just the sweetest, kindest person,” said Michelle Poppler, Kapilina Beach Homes resident.
Check out more news from around Hawaii
“Honestly, I feel like it’s very tragic,” said Ibana. “And I hope, like I pray for their family, and I pray for her, that she makes it out better. And I just hope everything goes well.”
“Whenever anything goes down at the pool, she’s the first one running to the danger,” said Poppler. “If there’s a kid like drowning, she’ll like get them right away. If there’s any like, kerfuffle happening, she’s like right on it. So Kauai girls are tough man.”
Minotta-Kelso was initially taken to the hospital in critical condition. Relatives say the man was her former roommate. Police say the man went back to his truck and apparently shot himself. And died at the scene.
The shooting has shocked the usually quiet and close-knit community.
“This community is very peaceful,” said Ibana. “Like I don’t mind it. Everyone here is nice, everyone here is respectful towards one another, and it’s just very hard to hear about that.”
Family members describe Francesca as a beloved sister, daughter, auntie and girlfriend. They’ve started a GoFundMe to help raise money to cover her medical costs, as well as to give her some time off to recover.
“We’re just gonna share it out there on social media and hope we can raise the funds for her to you know, recover and hopefully have a full recovery,” said Poppler.