Few clues in motive for Hawaii shooting

Police have no clues why an employee walked into a Xerox office building in Honolulu Tuesday morning and opened fire, killing seven people.

The gunman, Byran Uyesugi, is now in custody but has offered no explanation for his crime.

Witnesses say Uyesugi was on the verge of being fired but Xerox president and CEO G. Richard Thoman denies that. Yet he would not give any more comments on Uyesugi's work history or allegations that he had once threatened a supervisor.

The shooting spree began around 8 a.m. local time Tuesday. Uyesugi calmly walked into a conference room and opened fire with a nine-millimetre handgun, killing seven of his co-workers.

Ambulance crews describe finding a grisly scene inside the Xerox building, a few kilometres from downtown. The bodies of the men were found in various areas of the building. Everyone he hit, all men he had worked with, was killed.

One of the victims was his supervisor. No one else was injured.

Police negotiated with Uyesugi in a residential neighbourhood for five hours before he finally surrendered and was taken into custody.

Uyesugi has 17 weapons registered in his name. Honolulu's mayor Jeremy Harris says the situation "could have been much, much worse."

Uyesugi likely will face a first-degree murder charge that comes with a mandatory sentence of life in prison. Hawaii has no death penalty.