Police who shot nine times at armed mobster should only have fired six – inquiry

A violent mobster who escaped prison and was on the run, armed with a shotgun was shot nine times by police. Some of those shots were unjustified, an inquiry has ruled, and police should not have fired at the man from their moving patrol car.

The Independent Police Conduct Authority (IPCA) investigated an incident when an officer fired nine shots at the man in Te Teko on 27 May 2020.

The man, who has not been identified in the report, was a patched Mongrel Mob member with a history of “extensive violence” and had been a heavy methamphetamine user.

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On 13 May he had been granted bail for compassionate leave to attend his uncle’s tangi in Te Teko. He was supposed to return to prison at 6pm the next day but did not show up.

On 27 May 2020, police pursued the man to Te Teko, when he opened his driver’s door and pointed a long-barrelled shotgun towards the police cars following him. He jumped out of his car while it was still moving and again pointed the shotgun in the direction of the police.

His car came to a gradual stop outside a kōhanga reo, opposite a dairy, and members of the public ran to take cover inside shops.

Still pointing his shotgun towards the police officers, he ran across the road to steal a BMW parked outside a dairy.

An officer then fired his Glock pistol at the man five times.

While the man sat in the driver’s seat of the BMW, the officer fired three more shots, hitting the back of the car. The man then appeared to be getting out of the car with his shotgun, and the officer fired one last shot.

The man then dropped the shotgun onto the footpath before driving off in the stolen BMW towards Kawerau, with police in hot pursuit. He then abandoned the car and ran until he was captured. He was taken into custody a few hours later.

The entire shooting episode took place over 37 seconds and the officer’s nine shots were fired over about 15 seconds. No-one was injured.

The investigation found no evidence the man actually fired his shotgun, but ruled that it was “reasonable for the officer to genuinely believe he was firing towards him and other officers, given analysis of video footage of the incident and witness accounts.”

On that basis, the IPCA found the first five shots and the last shot fired by the officer were justified in order to defend himself and others, but that another three were not.

IPCA Chair, Judge Colin Doherty, said that he accepted the officer’s overall actions were to defend himself and others in a “fast-moving, challenging situation.”

“ However, it is implausible to believe he perceived the man posed an immediate threat to anyone while the man was sitting inside the car, at the instant the officer pulled the trigger to fire shots six, seven and eight.”

The officer fired some shots from his slow-moving patrol car, a practice which is not currently addressed in policy. Police are amending policy to ensure this is covered.

The Authority also found Police did not follow all procedures after the shooting incident.

Bay of Plenty District Commander Superintendent Tim Anderson said the incident was a high-risk one for the officers involved:

“This was an extremely dangerous incident.

I am proud of the officers involved and how they reacted to a fluid and fast-changing situation.

As always, we review these incidents and take learnings from them.

“I am grateful that no one was injured and that our officers were able to go home at the end of their shift.”