Napier shooting: Gunman's last words

Clockwise from L: Megan and Kay Helm wait to reunite with family; police during the siege; neighbour Wayne Rollinson pays tribute. Photos / Hawke's Bay Today, Herald on Sunday

The explosives-laden house of gunman Jan Molenaar will remain under police guard today, after the 51-hour siege of Hospital Hill ended with his self-inflicted death.

A team of five officers backed by members of the armed offenders squad eased their way into Molenaar's house on Chaucer Rd late yesterday morning to find the 51-year-old's body barricaded inside the master bedroom.

Operation head Superintendent Sam Hoyle said the risky move was a "last resort".

Before entering the house police had tried to use thermal imaging equipment to see Molenaar's body, with "limited success".

Neighbour Wayne Rollinson had watched the drama from his house 200m away since the siege began on Thursday morning, when Molenaar opened fire on three senior constables carrying out a routine drugs bust.

Len Snee, 53, was fatally shot, Bruce Miller, 40, was badly injured and last night remained in a critical condition at Hawke's Bay Hospital, while Grant Diver, 50, also injured, was in a serious condition but stable on a ward.

A fourth victim, civilian Leonard Holmwood, 44, shot while trying to wrestle Molenaar's gun from him, was also in a critical condition in hospital last night.

Rollinson said he knew the siege was over when he saw an Army armoured vehicle in the gunman's driveway, and an armed police officer walking openly on the street 50m away.

"There's no way they could be doing this without getting fired on."

Police entered the house about 11am and found Molenaar's body about an hour later. They determined he was dead and left the building for bomb experts to disable the explosives.

Police said there was still a risk to some residents and it could take two days for a bomb squad to clear the house.

While those trapped in their homes were allowed to leave yesterday afternoon, a smaller cordon remained in place and some people were still in temporary accommodation.

Rollinson, who yesterday painted the word "legend" on his roof in tribute to his friend, said he heard a single gunshot at 6.05am yesterday and knew Molenaar would be dead.

"We saw the gunshots, we saw the tanks moving in. This time there was no activity, and this single shot at five past six."

Last night it emerged Molenaar had texted his brother Peter from inside the house in the hours before his death.

His mother Anna, who was last night comforting Molenaar's partner Delwyn at her home, revealed the message said simply: "You are a choice brother, love you always."

As the siege ended, new tales of courage emerged from the streets within the cordon. Two civilians helped a police officer pull Miller from the line of fire.

They joined one of the first officers called to the scene, Detective Sergeant Tim Smith, to get Miller into a car while being fired on by Molenaar.

Hoyle said the trio's actions were part of some "truly heroic stuff", particularly in the early phase of the siege on Thursday.

Michael Kemp, who lives doors away from Molenaar, ran outside when he heard the first shots to see a man, believed to be Holmwood, crawling across the road and dust flying up as bullets struck the ground around him.

"I saw the guy crawl across the road to try to get away. I heard the next lot of bullets, then he crawled back across to the house side of the road again, I think he was trying to get behind a car."

Kemp saw armed offenders squad officers flood the street and get fired on as they tried to recover Snee. Later, they managed to rescue Holmwood, two officers running with the badly wounded civilian slumped between them.

"They were yelling, 'don't you give up on me, it's not too much further, you can do it'."

Molenaar's indiscriminate shooting saw bullets land a kilometre away in parts of suburban Napier.

Hoyle said these could have come from the high-powered rifle Molenaar had in his arsenal. He would not reveal details of the gunman's other weaponry but said police fired only two shots in the entire siege, both on Thursday morning.

Other flashes seen by some members of the public coming from the armed police were from tear gas thrown into the house early yesterday morning.

It was not known if Molenaar was injured by either of the police shots.

Hoyle said the inquiry would continue and there were still questions about Molenaar's motives for shooting at the four men.

There will be a coronial inquiry, a homicide inquiry into the death of Snee, an investigation into the wounding of the other men and an internal investigation into how the police handled the siege.

- REPORTING TEAM: Anna Leask, Heather McCracken, Doug Sherring, Patrick Gower, Rachel Tiffen and Grant Harding in Napier. Rebecca Lewis, Rebecca Milne and Carolyne Meng-Yee in Auckland.

- ADDITIONAL REPORTING: NZPA.