Shot officer was 'screaming in pain'

Neshanderan Rajgopaul. Photo / Dean Purcell.

A man who was high on methamphetamine shot a police officer before turning the gun on his associate, a court has heard.

Gavin Lomas said he had been smoking P with Neshanderan Rajgopaul before police turned up and started asking questions about a stolen Audi parked in his Papatoetoe driveway.

Rajgopaul is charged with attempting to murder Constable Jeremy Snow and 10 other charges ranging from assault with a firearm and possessing methamphetamine for supply. He has pleaded not guilty to all the charges at the Auckland High Court.

Mr Lomas said he went out to answer questions from the police officer while Rajgopaul and his friend hid in his house.

"They started freaking out," Mr Lomas said.

Rajgopaul had turned up in the Audi station wagon with a cache of guns earlier that evening.

The police quickly established the Audi was stolen and that the plates on the vehicle actually belonged to a Honda.

Mr Lomas said he and Mr Snow heard rustling in the backyard.

"Constable Snow yelled out: 'Hey you, stop'. Just as the other policeman was in line with me, that's when we heard shots," Mr Lomas said. "Constable Snow was screaming in a lot of pain."

Mr Snow had been shot in the chest, elbow and both legs.

The main artery in his left leg had been hit and he had lost a lot of blood.

Mr Lomas said he hid next to the garage and a short time later he saw Rajgopaul come from behind the garage.

He said Rajgopaul raised a gun at him but he could not be sure in the dark whether it was a pistol or a rifle.

"I put my hands up and said: 'Hey, bro'. In a crazy way I was trying to calm him down. When I stood up and said: 'Hey, bro', he started shooting at me."

Mr Lomas said he was shot in the arm but he continued running down the driveway, before jumping a fence and hiding behind a brick letter box.

Mr Lomas also gave evidence about a P smoking session about a week before the shooting of Mr Snow. He said Rajgopaul came to his home and demanded to know where a friend of Mr Lomas' lived. He said Rajgopaul believed the friend had stolen his cash and drugs.

Mr Lomas drew Rajgopaul a map of how to get there and Rajgopaul left before returning in about 30 minutes "quite agitated".

"He said he put 26 rounds into his car," Mr Lomas said.

He said Rajgopaul was "obviously fried" on P and laid out two shotguns and a .22 calibre rifle on his bed.

Mr Lomas said he heard a noise outside and went to investigate and when he came back into his bedroom Rajgopaul "was holding two pistols, aiming them at my head".

The trial is set down for a further two weeks and will hear evidence from more than 40 witnesses.