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A policeman who shot a man wielding a machete and a meat-cleaver has been cleared of wrongdoing.
Sergeant Jason Charles Lunjevich shot Michael Ali'imatafitafi three times as he charged at police called to his North Shore house to forcibly remove a stereo in a noise control dispute.
The Police Complaints Authority found Mr Lunjevich was justified in shooting Ali'imatafitafi, whose injuries were not life-threatening.
The authority did not name Mr Lunjevich, whose name had earlier been made public in court reports about the incident.
Mr Lunjevich told the authority the offender's face had been twisted with rage as he charged at him, ignoring calls to drop his weapons.
"I have never seen anyone look like this before in my life," he said.
"When he was moving off on a tangent to my left he was still brandishing the machete in his right hand above his head like he was going to swing it in a chopping motion ... he then swerved and began heading towards me."
Judge Ian Borrin said Mr Lunjevich had no choice but to shoot Ali'imatafitafi with his 9mm semi-automatic pistol, because he posed an immediate threat to the officer's life.
Mr Lunjevich's other options for subduing the man - using pepper-spray or a baton - would have meant getting too close to the machete-waving offender.
It wasn't until the third bullet hit him in the torso that Ali'imatafitafi, then 37, stopped advancing and collapsed 2m from Mr Lunjevich.
The incident was triggered by Ali'imatafitafi and his father, who are both hard of hearing, playing music by Maria Callas, Johann Strauss and Celine Dion loudly on their stereo.
After the pair refused to turn the volume down, police were called to seize the stereo. Ali'imatafitafi snr came out on to the driveway and smashed the stereo in front of police.
Then Ali'imatafitafi jnr emerged brandishing the machete and meat cleaver, before Mr Lunjevich shot him.
In 2005 Michael Ali'imatafitafi was sentenced to two years in prison for assault.
Judge Borrin said Mr Lunjevich had been faced with a situation where he was compelled to use lethal force.
The judge said he had noted that police were conducting a Taser trial.
"It is not for this authority to express a view on that particular device but ... it supports the consideration by the police of non-lethal alternatives."
- NZPA
