Kailua Shooting: Son Of Miske Associate ID’d As Victim

Police are still looking for the gunman in a fatal shooting in Kailua over the weekend and, in the last two days, speculation on social media has swirled around the identity of the victim.

On Monday, the Honolulu Medical Examiner’s Office confirmed the victim was 30-year-old Thomas Malone, who is the son of Michael Buntenbah, a former associate of crime boss Mike Miske.

According to police, an argument between two groups of people at the Kailua Fall Festival on Saturday spilled into the nearby Target parking lot, where someone pulled out a firearm. Video on social media shows first responders performing chest compressions on a person behind some parked vehicles.

Malone was pronounced dead at the scene. The cause of death was a gunshot wound to the neck, according to the medical examiner’s office.

Police described the suspect as a male in his late 20s wearing a black sweater with his hair in two braids. Information put out by the Honolulu Police Department on Sunday indicated that a suspect was in custody, but a department spokesperson said Monday afternoon that a suspect was not in custody. An HPD bulletin was later updated to say that no arrest had been made.

Police are seeking photographs and videos of the festival as well as any footage or recordings taken near the Target parking lot in the shopping strip at 345 Hahani St.

Over the weekend, cars were seen lined up outside of Buntenbah’s Kāneʻohe home. He could not be reached on Monday.

The victim's father, also known as Michael Buntenbah Malone — best known as the owner of the Defend Hawaii clothing line — was one of Miske's top lieutenants. He pleaded guilty in 2022 to a single count of conspiracy to commit assault in aid of racketeering connected to his time as a bouncer for Miske between 2012 and 2016.

His guilty plea describes four separate assaults Buntenbah either committed or participated in, at or near Miske’s M Nightclub in Restaurant Row.

After pleading guilty, Buntenbah was released into the custody of his son, Thomas Malone. Buntenbah was sentenced to 36 months in federal prison but records show he was released in March.

In early 2024, Malone, Buntenbah and another of his sons, along with other men, were caught on tape assaulting a restaurateur at the International Marketplace in Waikīkī. Malone was never charged in the incident; in fact, he had no criminal charges besides traffic violations, according to court records. 

In an application for a restraining order filed in January, Malone's ex-wife accused him of beating and threatening her, including with firearms, in multiple instances dating back to 2019. Malone denied those allegations in court. Still, a state judge issued a two-year restraining order against him which was set to expire in 2028.

Records in his divorce proceedings show he lived with his father for a time and did not have a consistent source of income. He wrote to the court that he worked construction jobs for cash.

Court records also indicate he struggled with drug addiction.