Police accept today's Independent Police Conduct Authority (IPCA) report, which finds that the shooting of Lachan Kelly-Tumarae on 28 March 2011 at Omahu, near Hastings, was justified.
Assistant Commissioner Mike Rusbatch said officers had not wanted to shoot Mr Kelly-Tumarae, but were left with no other option after he threatened them several times with a loaded shotgun following a lengthy pursuit.
"As the Authority notes, this was a fast-paced, quickly evolving situation, in which numerous officers risked their lives in an effort to safely contain Mr Kelly-Tumarae, who bore the principal responsibility for what occurred. Tragically, he put officers in a position where they had no choice but to open fire, as they genuinely believed he was going to shoot them or potentially go on to hurt innocent members of the public.
"As the Authority also found, the number of shots fired by the officer involved was justified and reasonable to ensure that the threat posed by Mr Kelly-Tumarae was contained, bearing in mind that the officer had to make a number of split-second decisions under extreme pressure, while fearing for his own life and those of his fellow officers. That said, we are sorry that this incident ended in the tragic loss of a young man's life, and our sympathies go to his family."
Mr Rusbatch said Police were pleased the IPCA had noted its existing policies around critical incidents were sound, but that there were lessons to be learned from any incident. "Police accepts the Authority's recommendations around improvements to aspects of our firearms policy, and have either implemented these, or have work underway to address them."
Mr Rusbatch said work to improve auditing of firearms, ammunition and equipment at district level had already been completed, while national standardisation of auditing and documentation processes was underway. Work was underway on compulsory drug and alcohol testing for officers involved in critical incidents, while issues relating to the certification of staff involved in armed incidents would be addressed through implementation of a new tactical training framework already in progress.
Acting Eastern Police District Commander Inspector Sam Aberahama said any use of lethal force was always a last resort, and all staff involved were saddened that they had been left with no alternative when faced with a critical life-threatening situation.
"Our staff go to work every day to keep people safe, and this is the last thing that any officer wants to have to do. But in this case, Mr Kelly-Tumarae left us with no other option, and we are saddened that this incident ended in tragedy."
Mr Aberahama said district Police accepted the IPCA's findings that its interaction with the family was not as good as it should have been, nor was its explanation of damage caused to Mr Kelly-Tumarae's clothing following the shooting. However, this had since been explained to the family.
Mr Aberahama said findings regarding some district staff not following aspects of policy had been addressed, and that the relevant policies had been reinforced.
ENDS
PNHQ media: Ross Henderson 04 470 7316 or 027 703 7329
Eastern District Police media: Kris McGehan, Ph 06 831 0786 or 027 222 3638