Napier shooting: Army to help in stolen guns claim

A bullet from Jan Molenaar's gun struck this window in nearby Enfield Rd. Photo / Richard Robinson

The Army says it will support police with inquiries following claims that gunman Jan Molenaar stole his arsenal after completing a stint with the Territorial Forces.

The Sunday News reported Molenaar stole his high-powered arsenal from the Army after he left the territorials.

He had apparently bragged to his friend Peter Taueki over a beer that he was planning to use them "for something useful".

Molenaar spent six years in the territorials in the armoured corps of the Hawkes Bay Wellington Regiment in the 1980s. He left in 1988 and did not have any further involvement with the Army.

New Zealand Army spokesman Bas Bolyn said the Army would support police with their inquiry.

He could not confirm if the weapon used to kill Senior Constable Len Snee and critically injure his colleagues Grant Diver and Bruce Miller were once Army-issued firearms.

But he said at the time Molenaar left the territorials the Army-issue SLR (self-loading rifle) was put on the open market as the armed forces upgraded to Steyr rifles.

"There was a changeover at the time when these rifles went out to the open market ... it is a possibility."

Molenaar's friend of more than 40 years, Arthur Hyde, earlier told the Herald Molenaar had had some involvement with the elite SAS.

Other friends confirmed he had an interest in weapons and possibly explosives.

"We used to have kids' fun with fireworks ... it was like a natural extension into his adult years and I suppose accelerated by the armed services and his time in the territorials plus his mates in the SAS," said Mr Hyde.

"That may be where his armoury came from."

But a defence forces source doubted these claims. He said it was highly unlikely these weapons came from the Army and even less probable that SAS operatives would pass their firearms on to a civilian.

"I really doubt it. You also have to keep in mind that the SAS don't use standard Army-issue weapons."

Territorial forces' weapons were kept in a restricted-access armoury and maintained by staff who were fully vetted. The use of weapons is governed by strict sign-in and sign-out procedures. An independent duty officer checks at the end of each day to ensure all weapons are accounted for.

"It's always been like that ... if anything is missing in terms of weapons nothing happens," the source said.

"Everything goes into lockdown, it all comes to a standstill ... if a grenade doesn't explode they make sure someone goes out into the field to detonate it."