Poull Andersen and his sister, Jay Jay Feeney. Andersen was shot in Auckland's CBD in March 2022. Photo / Michael Craig
Poull Andersen and his sister, Jay Jay Feeney. Andersen was shot in Auckland's CBD in March 2022. Photo / Michael Craig
A man left fighting for his life after being peppered with shotgun pellets on a downtown Auckland street says he’s suffering physical and mental scars from the shooting and believes the gunman got off lightly.
Poull Andersen, brother of radio host Jay-Jay Feeney, still fears for his safety following last year’s shooting, doesn’t leave his house at night, and says he got no closure from the gunman’s sentencing this week.
“I’m not going to lie, I’m not impressed, there is no closure for me. In my opinion, the punishment is lame. If the bullet was a millimetre closer [to my heart], I’d be dead...
“It could have taken my kids’ father away from them, my mother’s son, my sister’s brother.
“I’m stuck with the scars and memories for the rest of my life,” Andersen said.
“His heart may still be beating, but the Poull we knew before this has gone. It’s sad because he used to be happy-go-lucky but now, he is cautious and withdrawn,” she told the Herald.
Andersen, a 34-year-old father to two sons, was ordering chicken and chips at his favourite kebab shop on Fort St in March last year when he and two women were shot at.
The teen then left for a nearby parking garage and returned with what appeared to be a homemade “pipe shotgun” loaded with pellets from a 12-gauge shotgun shell and fired it.
Pellets punctured Andersen’s lungs, and one narrowly missed his heart. Doctors left around 20 pellets in his body because they were difficult to remove.
He has a long scar on his stomach and was petrified of being blind and paralysed.
Poull Andersen shows the scars from a random shooting on Fort St. Photo / Jason Oxenham
“They had to cut bullets out of my arteries, intestines and stomach. A bullet missed my eye and there is one lodged on the outside of my heart”.
Andersen, a mechanic who runs his own business, denies being involved in any altercation with the gunman, who has gang affiliations, prior to the shooting.
“That pisses me off,” he said of the claimed altercation.
“I saw a disturbance behind me before the shooting. As I was looking at the menu figuring out what to order then there was this ‘bang’ out of nowhere. I didn’t know where the shot came from. It felt like I was hit by a car, there is this intense hot energy that goes through you. I was coughing up blood, I couldn’t move, and I could feel my insides burning. I fought to stay awake, my girlfriend kept talking to me, I remember our phones were drenched in blood. At one point I didn’t think I would make it, so I rang my mum.”
Poull Andersen recovering in hospital.
The gunman, now 20, still has name suppression after he admitted three charges of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm. He was sentenced to five years and seven months’ imprisonment on Monday at the Auckland District Court by Judge Kathryn Maxwell.
Judge Maxwell said the offending was aggravated because of the level of pre-meditation involved, with the gunman leaving the scene to retrieve a gun, and the extreme violence of the “unprovoked and gratuitous” attack.
“Your selfish actions have seriously affected a number of people,” she said.
The gunman also received a 5 per cent discount to the original sentence for expressing remorse and writing letters of apology to each victim.
Andersen says he never received a letter.
Poull Andersen who was shot by a gunman in March 2022 says he never got to eyeball him in court. Photo / Michael Craig
“There was no letter, - nothing. I have had no part in any of this, it’s all bull***,” Andersen said.
After enquiries from the Herald, the police said a letter of apology from the offender to the victim was provided to police, and the process of getting it to the victim is underway.
Andersen also claimed he never had the opportunity to eyeball the gunman and read a victim impact statement in court.
Police dispute this and claimed that Andersen declined the option to read his statement in court.
Detective Chris Lamb, of Auckland City Police, said in statement: “Police acknowledge the impact and harm that this event has had on the victim...
“The victim was regularly kept updated over the progress of the matter through the court process.”
Feeney told the Herald that the shooting had been hard on the family.
Poull Andersen and his sister, Jay Jay Feeney and their mother, Robynne Andersen. Photo/ Michael Craig
“I miss the old Poull. The gunman will probably serve half of his sentence, but Poull will suffer the rest of his life. I hope the gunman listens to the judge, does anger management and won’t do this to anyone else. Poull is lucky to be alive but since the shooting he has been depressed, paranoid and gets angry - it’s affected him hugely,” Feeney said.
Robynne Andersen, Poull’s mother, says she won’t forgive the gunman who hurt her son.
“No one should be allowed in the city with a gun and fire it randomly. He rang me straight after he was shot, I thought he was going to die. Poull always used to be in your face and tell you how much he loved you. He’s not outgoing like he used to be and only feels safe in the daytime,” Robynne said.
Andersen, is thankful his mother and sister have always been there for him and have his back.
“They are both fantastic, some days I really struggle and when I feel down I call mum and she comes over for a cup of tea. I get very frustrated and can’t control my emotions like I used to. Jay Jay is fantastic at calming me down, she’s very sensible,” Andersen said.
The mechanic said he tires easily and finds it difficult concentrating on basic tasks. His business, Poull’s Workshop, in Penrose has also suffered.
Poull Andersen with his mother, Robynne, who doesn't forgive the gunman who shot her son.
Photo / Michael Craig
“After I was shot, I have no strength in my right arm. I had to buy some new power tools because I can’t lift. I had to buy a special chair to sit on while I am working and had to invest in a [trolley] because I can’t push cars anymore. To be honest it’s been difficult financially. I am a one-man band and when I’m unable to work, I don’t get sick pay or holiday pay but I have some Japanese 90s sports cars I can sell but I don’t really want to because I worked hard for them.”
The father of two boys, 11, and 9, says he has counselling once a fortnight to process the trauma of being shot.
“No father wants to be taken away from their kids and that’s what he almost did to me. My kids were too scared to visit but they are okay now. When I hear loud noises, I freak out. I got triggered on Guy Fawkes night, I view life very negatively. You are not safe anywhere, there are so many bad things going on around town. I haven’t been to the city since, I keep to myself,” Andersen said.
The family is gathering for a potluck Christmas lunch which is being hosted by Feeney’s ex-husband, Dom Harvey.
“I see Dom every day - he doesn’t give me a chance to miss him,” Feeney said.
“Christmas is an annual tradition, and we always have it at Dom’s with his girlfriend, Ash, his mum, my boyfriend and mum. I’m on chicken duty, mum’s cooking pork everyone has a task except Poull who is on eating duty,” she said.
From left Hoani Molnar, Ash Males, Dom Harvey and Jay-Jay Feeney will spend Christmas day together. Photo / supplied.
Andersen is looking forward to spending time with his sons when they visit in the new year.
“They are petrolheads like me and love doing stuff with cars.”
“I would like to put the past two years behind me if I can and move on. I hope the gunman chooses to follow the right path, he’s got to be there for his kid.”
What Poull says he would have told the gunman at sentencing
You had no right to do what you did. For whatever reason you had in your head to bring a loaded gun to town.
This could have easily ended my life, not to mention others as well.
It could have taken my kids’ father away from them, my mother’s son, my sister’s brother,
I’m stuck with the scars and memories for the rest of my life,
The mental toll is far greater than I thought to imagine, in fact the toll on my entire life.
I used to be a happy outgoing positive kind of person.
Now... not so much.
Carolyne Meng-Yee is an Auckland- based investigative journalist. She has worked for the Herald since 2007 and was previously a commissioner at TVNZ and a current affairs producer for 60 minutes, 20/20 and Sunday.
