HAWAII’S WORST MASSACRE
On 2 November 1999, gun obsessive
Byran Koji Uyesugi shot and killed seven employees at the Xerox Office building in Honolulu, Hawaii, where he worked.
Uyesugi had gained a reputation as a difficult employee shortly after he began there in 1984. Employed as a service technician, colleagues complained of harassment and his propensity for bouts of uncontrolled rage. As a result of his temper, co-workers would steer clear of him, but this only made him more isolated and withdrawn. In 1993, his fury boiled over and he began making death threats against him employers. He was eventually sent for a psychiatric evaluation and ordered to attend an anger management program.
On 1 November 1999, Uyesugi was forced to comply with training on a new model of photocopier. He had been resisting the training and was enraged at his compulsory attendance, yet nobody could have predicted what was to unfold the next morning. Just after 8am on 2 November, armed with a
9mm Glock 17 pistol, Uyesugi entered the Xerox building. He spoke to a co-worker on the first floor and then made his way to the second floor, where he shot employees Ron Kawamae and Jason Balatico. On entering a conference room, he shot all the meeting’s attendees – Ronald Kataoka, 50, Peter Mark, 46, Melvin Lee, 58, John Sakamoto, 36, and Ford Kanehira, 41. Uyesugi attempted to shoot an eighth member of staff, Steve Matsuda, 55, on a stairway as he tried to escape, but he survived the attack. Uyesugi then stole a company van and fled the scene.
He was able to evade capture for two hours, until a witness spotted his stolen vehicle parked near the Hawaii Nature Centre. At the time, the Nature Centre was hosting an event for school children who would remain trapped inside as events unfolded. Police cordoned off a half-mile area around Uyesugi’s location and drafted in his brother to try and avoid a shootout. Uyesugi engaged in a stand-off with police that lasted five hours, in which he threatened further killings. However, with the aid of his brother, Uyesugi would eventually surrender at 3pm with no further casualties.
In May 2000, Uyesugi , 44, stood trial for perpetrating the mass killings. He pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity, but the court heard from several doctors, who testified that the crime demonstrated his actions were premeditated as he had brought the weapon into work and planned to carry out the attack. The jury agreed and, rejecting his insanity plea, found him guilty of murder. Uyesugi was sentenced to life in prison and ordered to serve a minimum of 235 years, the longest sentence ever given to a Hawaiian inmate. Now in his sixties, he remains behind bars. ■