KAILUA — Friends and family of a 49-year-old man who police say stabbed a woman then fatally stabbed himself at Pali Lanes yesterday expressed shock at the crime and described the suspect as a "good person."

Friends said the 38-year-old victim, who they identified as Terry Paulo, was the suspect's ex-girlfriend.

The suspect was identified by family members as Harlan Bruce Kamekona.

Kamekona had four children and Paulo has three, said Renee Shook, Kamekona's oldest sister.

"He was no angel," said Shook, at Castle Medical Center yesterday afternoon. "Like everybody he had his good and his bad, but all in all he was a good person."

Police said Kamekona entered Pali Lanes around 9 a.m. yesterday and confronted Paulo "over a possible affair she was having."

He then allegedly pulled out a handgun and shot at her, but missed. The victim fled, but he chased her, allegedly stabbing her several times.

Police said the suspect then stabbed himself numerous times before becoming unconscious.

"The patrons that were there did everything they could to intervene and help the situation," police Capt. Richard Robinson, with the Criminal Investigation Division.

The man was treated for multiple stab wounds and taken in critical condition to Castle Medical Center, where he died.

The woman was taken to The Queen's Medical Center in critical condition. She also suffered multiple stab wounds.

Witnesses at Pali Lanes said Paulo is a regular Tuesday bowler, who often came with her mother and a child in a stroller.

Gary Darling, one of the bowling alley's owners, said he was in his office on a lower floor when he heard screams and yelling. He thought it was excitement over a game until someone shouted, "Oh my God!"

Darling went to investigate and saw a group surrounding someone on the floor and the man standing at the counter, he said.

"From what I've been told they were in the stages of breaking up," Darling said. "Apparently, he wasn't taking it very well."

He said about 20 people were in the bowling alley when the stabbing happened.

Andrew Jamila Jr., of Waimānalo, who has known Kamekona for about 20 years, said Paulo and Kamekona were a couple for about five to seven years. Jamila said he would join them for picnics, Jet Ski rides and lately spent time riding motorcycles with Kamekona.

Paulo is a good person, who took care of Kamekona's home and was always pleasant to be around, he said. Although they would have a spat now and then, Jamila said he had no clue that the relationship was volatile.

"When I was with them, it was always good," he said.

Kamekona owned Bad Boys Trucking, and Jamila said he would lend trucks to events such as the Christmas parade. Last year, he sat in as Santa Claus.

"I never saw this coming," Jamila said. "I never would have expected this from Bruce because he loved life."

Kamekona was convicted of federal narcotics trafficking charges in 2000 in a case that involved shipments of methamphetamine to Guam. He was released from prison in 2005 and was due to complete a period of supervised release — the federal version of parole — in June of this year, according to court records.

His lawyer, Michael Green, however, said Kamekona recently completed his sentence and was no longer subject to federal supervision.

"I'm just shocked by this," Green said. "He was a good guy and she was a real pretty girl."

Kamekona's federal criminal case files also show that he got in trouble with his probation officer in late 2008 for failure to report about $50,000 in income from the trucking business. That discovery led to an ongoing criminal tax investigation by the state, two individuals familiar with the case said yesterday.

Kamekona was a former l member of the Teamsters Union production unit, which supplies drivers to film and television productions shot in Hawai'i.

His brother, Reynold Kamekona, was sentenced last week to five years of probation after pleading guilty to drug possession and to a charge of soliciting sex from an undercover police officer.