Traumatized by a series of violent incidents at their doorstep, residents of the River-Pauahi Apartments in Chinatown are calling on police and city officials to further improve security in their neighborhood.

"They're shaken," said property manager Randy Leong, who arranged to have a psychiatrist from the Hawai'i State Hospital counsel residents having difficulty coping in the aftermath of a fatal shooting and an apparently retaliatory stabbing and assault.

On March 28, two gunmen shot and killed Joseph Peneueta in front of the building. On April 3, a group of men stabbed a man and beat his female acquaintance in the same location in apparent retaliation for the Peneueta shooting.

Residents were also rattled on Feb. 22 when nearby gunfire damaged a railing and hit one resident's door. Seven shell casings were later recovered.

Earlier this month, residents from the building delivered a petition asking for more surveillance cameras in the area to the Downtown-Chinatown Neighborhood Board. The board is expected to suggest the enhanced security measure to the City Council.

Property manager Randy Leong also would like to see police make use of drug-sniffing dogs and plain-clothes patrols to further address drug-related crime in the area.

Leong, a Vietnam veteran, said he recalls his own reaction to hearing gunfire and empathizes with his tenants.

"Fortunately, it was an isolated incident during my one-year tour, but even to this day, 38 years later, I remember very vividly the gut-wrenching fear I felt and my hitting the floor and crawling around on my stomach for 20 minutes, trying to figure out what to do," he said. "I remember that night, almost four decades ago, better than I do my dinner from four nights ago, and will not forget it for the rest of my life."

Leong said there has been consistent drug activity in two adjacent properties.