Aramoana cops break silence

David Gray. Photo / Supplied

For the first time in almost 20 years, the police involved in the Aramoana shooting tragedy have revealed who pulled the trigger to end the killing spree of gunman David Gray.

After killing 13 people in the small Otago town on November 13, 1990 - the youngest a 5-year-old boy - Gray ran at a group of officers from the Christchurch Armed Offenders Squad, shooting at them with an AK47.

Three officers fired back - but they have been reluctant to say which of them pulled their triggers.

This week, however, two of the men told the Herald on Sunday they fired at Gray.

"I was one of the ones that shot him. There were three of us that shot him," said Mike Kyne, who is no longer a police officer.

"He created the circumstances ... we won, he lost."

Tim Ashton, who now runs an outdoor education programme at a Christchurch high school, also revealed he took a shot at Gray.

National tactical groups commander Superintendent Bruce Dunstan said this week armed offenders squads attended between 500 and 600 jobs a year on average.

In the year to June 2008 they were called out 618 times compared with 533 in 1999. The busiest squads, in Auckland and Christchurch, went to between 90 and 120 jobs annually.

- HERALD ON SUNDAY