Gunman looked possessed: police

Halatau Naitoko, 17, with his daughter Stephanie. Photo / Supplied

Gunman Stephen McDonald looked as though he was "possessed" as he led police to a motorway where they shot an innocent teenager dead, an inquest into the shooting has heard.

Armed police chased McDonald on January 23 from West Auckland to the Northwestern Motorway, where he tried to hijack a small truck and began shooting at them.

When the officers fired back, they accidentally shot 17-year-old courier Halatau Naitoko, who was sitting in his van behind the truck. He died almost instantly.

An inquest into his death, which started yesterday at the Auckland District Court, heard from Constable Steven Vile, who looked directly at McDonald's face and eyes.

"The look on his face ... it looked like a man possessed," he said.

Mr Vile said he saw two armed offenders squad officers holding Bushmaster M4 rifles standing to the right of the truck's cab before he heard "three or four" shots and the sound of glass shattering. At the time, he was unsure who fired the shots.

Colin Pidgeon, QC, representing Halatau Naitoko's family, asked him if the shooters could have seen the van behind the truck given that its sides were higher than the truck.

The shots were fired from the side of the motorway towards the centre of the road. "Are you seriously saying that the truck might have blocked the view of the van?"

Mr Vile said the cab of the truck could have blocked their view but he "couldn't say what they were seeing".

The lawyer asked again if he accepted that, from the armed officers' position, they could not see the van.

Mr Vile replied: "It depends where they were looking."

Coroner Gordon Matenga asked him if he was aware of other tactics - like police dogs - that could have been used and whether it would be of assistance in the future if officers were "more aware" of resources.

Mr Vile said it was always helpful to know who was responding. He was aware that at least one dog handler had joined the pursuit.

Questioning police efforts that day, Mr Matenga wanted to know if officers were aware who was in charge when the pursuit began. Mr Vile said he understood the northern communications centre dispatcher was giving orders. At times, people were speaking quickly and over each other over the police radio, he said, but he understood his role and was not distracted by them.

Motorist Bianca Bush said she saw McDonald run past her car pointing a gun in the direction he was running from. She saw his fingers close around the trigger and his hand clench as he opened fire.

"He fired across the bonnet of my car. I didn't see who or what he was aiming at," she said. When he looked at her, his eyes looked "crazy and desperate". Ms Bush was so terrified she could not find her car's central lock.

"I thought he was going to jump in my car and put a gun to my head."

Richard Neville was in the truck McDonald tried to hijack. He saw him pointing the gun at him with two hands in a shooter's stance.

When McDonald leaped onto the back of his truck, Mr Neville could hear the fugitive's "deep booming voice" giving instructions.

He slammed on the brake, causing McDonald to fall forward just as the armed offenders squad fired.

The two armed officers, including the one who fired the fatal shot, will head to the High Court on Friday to argue on how they will give evidence at the inquest.

McDonald, 50, admitted 23 charges in July and was jailed for 13 years.