Former AOS boss defends police shooting of teen

The scene following the shooting. Photo / Glenn Taylor

The family of 19-year-old Lachan Kelly-Tumarae are furious police shot and killed the teenager, but a former Armed Offenders Squad chief has defended the police's actions.

Mr Kelly-Tumarae, of Flaxmere in Hastings, was shot by an officer yesterday morning with a standard issue Glock pistol in Fernhill, about 15km from Napier, around 1.30am and died in hospital about 3am.

Police said Mr Kelly-Tumarae had presented a shotgun at police officers in both Maraenui and at Fernhill.

Yesterday, James Tumarae, the uncle of Mr Kelly-Tumarae, said he was furious at the shooting and would be making a complaint against police.

His nephew was a "bloody good guy" who was getting ready for a second year in training with the army, he said.

"I'm absolutely f****d off. Why couldn't they use a taser gun? The cops are getting too trigger happy."

But former head of the Wellington Armed Offenders Squad, Murray Forbes, who left the police force in 1997, said officers have only a split second to act when an offender aims a weapon in their direction.

"It's sounds very easy to shoot to wound, " Mr Forbes told Radio New Zealand. "The best shot is to the mass ... part of the upper body. You can't shoot a limb.

"It all sounds very well in theory but, you know, it is pretty limited really."

He said the staff involved will question their actions - not only the one who pulled the trigger but those who sent staff forward.

"You've got to wear the decisions you make at the time. It sticks with those boys forever, whether they were right or wrong.

"For God's sake, no one wants to shoot anybody."

Hours before he was shot dead by police, teenager Mr Kelly-Tumarae was chatting about his day at home with his grandmother.

He had been drinking with a "lifetime friend" who picked him up earlier that day but was not so drunk or agitated it caused anyone any concern.

The 19-year-old's last day alive had been spent helping his uncle in the garden and giving a car an oil change.

Family members yesterday said there was no indication anything was wrong and are at a loss to explain why he confronted police with a shotgun in the middle of the night.

Napier police officers noticed Kelly-Tumarae acting suspiciously near a vehicle parked in Wordsworth Crescent in suburban Maraenui about 1.30am.

When they approached he pointed a shotgun at the officers, forcing them to retreat.

He was followed to Fernhill, on the outskirts of Hastings. He abruptly got out of the car in Taihape Rd and again pointed the shotgun at police.

Eastern district police commander Superintendent Sam Hoyle said early indications were Kelly-Tumarae fired the gun before he was shot by an officer.

It was too early to say how many shots Kelly-Tumarae or police had fired.

His uncle, James Tumarae, 43, said he overheard him talking to his grandmother about midnight.

"I didn't think anything of it because they usually have their night-time catch-ups about events that happened through the day. But there was nothing that happened out of normal."

He had been drinking but was not as "drunk as he could get".

"Mum was happy with his persona at the time, so obviously something with his friend sparked him off. I really don't know what happened over in Napier."

He had been away with the friend earlier in the evening but the family do not know where they were or what they were doing.

The afternoon before the shooting he helped Mr Tumarae to create a memorial garden in the back yard - "he was pottering around with me" - and did an oil change on a car, before spending time with another family member who was visiting from Masterton.

Speaking to the Herald from his Flaxmere home, Mr Tumarae said the shotgun allegedly used against the police belonged to his father who used it for duckshooting.

"It has been in storage. I don't know when Lachan got his hands on it."

Mr Tumarae said his sister-in-law lived in the Napier street in which he was seen acting suspiciously. It was possible he had been there before the incident with police.

There had been brushes with the law recently.

"There were a few incidents last year. Lachan had some involvement with gangs but he made a break."

The break was a three-month boot camp-style army training course at Trentham, Wellington.

"He went into the army to do his training and ... he wanted to leave the gangs and move on, so he was doing really well."

He was considering a career in the army and moved to Christchurch to live with his mother, Mereheeni, after the training was completed last year.

But continuing earthquake aftershocks unsettled him.

"It was just a bit much for him ... so he came to Hawkes Bay for a couple of weeks."

Mr Hoyle said officers immediately attempted first aid but Kelly-Tumarae died at Hawkes Bay Regional Hospital.

A homicide inquiry is being conducted, and the Independent Police Conduct Authority is investigating.

Police Association president Greg O'Connor has backed the officer who shot Kelly-Tumarae.

"There'll be all sorts of speculation about what happened," he said. "The best thing to do ... is to wait for the results of the inquiries."