Anne Bower was on the telephone Monday night trying to convince a 911 operator that she was witnessing a killing 25 feet away.

"You could hear (a suspect) firing the whole time I was on the phone," she said. "The operator kept saying it sounded like fireworks. I said, 'No, no, no, no. Somebody's being shot.' "

Her husband, John Bower, said, "My wife kept telling her, 'They're shooting someone in our yard.'"

A police spokeswoman did not return telephone calls seeking comment on Monday night's 911 call from the Bowers. Police also did not respond to a request to provide a copy of the 911 tape.

The Bowers, both 68, had just finished watching "CSI: Miami" and turned to the local news when they heard strange sounds coming from outside.

"We heard a couple of pops," Anne Bower said. "I thought it was a backfire. John said, 'No.' "

The couple went to their sunroom that looks out over their backyard and out toward Kane'ohe Bay Drive. There, they saw a shooting unfold just 25 feet away.

The crime scene is located between two street lights and was dark Monday night, the Bowers said. But lights from passing cars and the muzzle flash of the shooter's gun let them see a man wearing only shorts lying on his back in the middle of the street.

Another man, dressed entirely in black, was standing about 10 feet to 15 feet away, firing what appeared to be dozens of rounds into the man's torso, John Bower said.

Anne Bower, who tutors eighth-graders in English, math, science and social studies at King Intermediate School in Kane'ohe, said she called 911 and — while still on the phone — continued to hear "dozens and dozens of shots. You couldn't shoot a gun that fast. It was over and over and over. The whole time I was talking to 911 I said: 'No, no, not fireworks.' "

Anne Bower estimated that the shots lasted about five minutes.

"It seemed longer," she said. "It's hard to tell time. It seemed like it went on and on and on."

Aside from the gunshots, she heard no other sounds.

"I didn't hear any yelling," she said. "And the man who was getting shot was not calling out. The only sounds were the gunfire."

At one point, the gunman started walking toward a white, four-door sedan parked about 50 feet away.

But then the victim started moving.

"I said, 'Please God, don't let him die,'" Anne Bower said. "I said more than one prayer. You don't want to see somebody die."

The gunman then turned around and started shooting again.

"The guy went back and shot him some more times. He was very calm."

The driver of the car then rolled up, got out and started speaking to the shooter, Anne Bower said.

"There was a brief moment when they said something to each other," she said.

The shooter then got into the back seat, she said, and the driver "burned a little rubber."

John Bower said he got little sleep Monday night. His wife curled up in the recliner in their living room and finally nodded off at about 3 a.m.

But yesterday, the images of the shooting were back.

"My insides are still kind of shaky," Anne Bower said. "It was like it wasn't happening. But it was happening."

Reach Dan Nakaso at dnakaso@honoluluadvertiser.com.