Shot teen's last acts mystify family

The scene following the shooting. Photo / Glenn Taylor

Hours before he was shot dead by police, teenager Lachan Kelly-Tumarae was chatting about his day at home with his grandmother.

He had been drinking with a "lifetime friend" who picked him up earlier that day but was not so drunk or agitated it caused anyone any concern.

The 19-year-old's last day alive had been spent helping his uncle in the garden and giving a car an oil change.

Family members yesterday said there was no indication anything was wrong and are at a loss to explain why he confronted police with a shotgun in the middle of the night.

Napier police officers noticed Kelly-Tumarae acting suspiciously near a vehicle parked in Wordsworth Crescent in suburban Maraenui about 1.30am.

When they approached he pointed a shotgun at the officers, forcing them to retreat.

He was followed to Fernhill, on the outskirts of Hastings. He abruptly got out of the car in Taihape Rd and again pointed the shotgun at police.

Eastern district police commander Superintendent Sam Hoyle said early indications were Kelly-Tumarae fired the gun before he was shot by an officer.

It was too early to say how many shots Kelly-Tumarae or police had fired.

His uncle, James Tumarae, 43, said he overheard him talking to his grandmother about midnight.

"I didn't think anything of it because they usually have their night-time catch-ups about events that happened through the day. But there was nothing that happened out of normal."

He had been drinking but was not as "drunk as he could get".

"Mum was happy with his persona at the time, so obviously something with his friend sparked him off. I really don't know what happened over in Napier."

He had been away with the friend earlier in the evening but the family do not know where they were or what they were doing.

The afternoon before the shooting he helped Mr Tumarae to create a memorial garden in the back yard - "he was pottering around with me" - and did an oil change on a car, before spending time with another family member who was visiting from Masterton.

Speaking to the Herald from his Flaxmere home, Mr Tumarae said the shotgun allegedly used against the police belonged to his father who used it for duckshooting.

"It has been in storage. I don't know when Lachan got his hands on it."

Mr Tumarae said his sister-in-law lived in the Napier street in which he was seen acting suspiciously. It was possible he had been there before the incident with police.

There had been brushes with the law recently.

"There were a few incidents last year. Lachan had some involvement with gangs but he made a break."

The break was a three-month boot camp-style army training course at Trentham, Wellington.

"He went into the army to do his training and ... he wanted to leave the gangs and move on, so he was doing really well."

He was considering a career in the army and moved to Christchurch to live with his mother, Mereheeni, after the training was completed last year.

But continuing earthquake aftershocks unsettled him.

"It was just a bit much for him ... so he came to Hawkes Bay for a couple of weeks."

Mr Hoyle said officers immediately attempted first aid but Kelly-Tumarae died at Hawkes Bay Regional Hospital.

A homicide inquiry is being conducted, and the Independent Police Conduct Authority is investigating.

Police Association president Greg O'Connor has backed the officer who shot Kelly-Tumarae.

"There'll be all sorts of speculation about what happened," he said. "The best thing to do ... is to wait for the results of the inquiries."