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A witness has told how an armed policeman shot dead a man in self-defence after he charged wildly at the officer with a hammer raised above his head.
The witness, who was just metres away, contradicted claims that the victim had posed no threat and had his arms by his sides when he was shot.
Police also are disputing those claims and another that the man was unarmed when fired upon several times.
But the latest witness says the charging man was only a metre away from the police officer, with hammer raised, when he was shot dead.
The dead man, Stephen Jon Bellingham, 37, believed to be a Christchurch resident originally from the North Island, died after one of the shots, fired from the policeman's Glock pistol, hit him in the chest and another struck him in the leg.
The hammer lay several metres from the man's body as he was covered with a white sheet after the shooting.
The confrontation with police on Wednesday night came after Mr Bellingham is reported to have "smashed up" a flat and parked vehicles with a hammer.
It is believed he died almost instantly after being shot.
Police say officers checked him, but some witnesses said Mr Bellingham waited unattended until St John Ambulance paramedics arrived about 10 minutes later.
Witnesses Keiran Cross and Amanda Duke told the Herald the man had his hands at his sides, was standing still and did not appear to pose a threat when he was fired upon.
Mr Cross said he felt the police actions were unnecessary and the incident had shaken his faith in them.
But another witness, Chris Young, 19, said he had a "100 per cent clear view" of the incident from his car parked outside his flat, and the policeman had no choice.
Mr Young, whose sister Jane, 16, was killed in a high-profile hit-and-run in May, said Mr Bellingham "definitely was not in a clear state of mind".
He saw him charge the officer with the hammer raised.
"It's testament to how fast and aggressively he was charging towards the policeman that when he let go of the hammer it skidded across the road."
Mr Young said Mr Bellingham had earlier tried to get into his (Mr Young's) car to leave the scene.
"It was blatantly obvious that he was going to try and give the police officer a good whack with the hammer."
He said the police officer fired his pistol only after the man ran at him.
"The man just charged him with a hammer raised above his head with both hands ... and ran ... really, really fast at the police officer."
He was shot just after 8.30pm. Mr Young said Mr Bellingham was about a metre from the police officer when the shots were fired.
"He just went down and his hammer continued on past the policeman."
A homicide inquiry, overseen by the Police Complaints Authority and involving 30 police investigators, is under way into the shooting.
An investigation is also being carried out by police for the coroner.
Regional police commander Superintendent Sandra Manderson said witness reports she had seen confirmed Mr Bellingham had a hammer in his hand and advanced towards the police officer despite being warned.
"I do know the officer was under ... serious threat to his life."
Asked if the officer could have used pepper spray, Ms Manderson said it might have been that the circumstances made it impossible.
Ms Manderson told Radio New Zealand today it was feasible that at some stage Mr Bellingham had his arms down and at other times his arms were raised.
"It's our job to find the truth and to investigate that," she said.
"I've certainly had reports that people saw him running towards an officer with his hands up, but as I say we're in the early stage of that inquiry and we have to establish exactly what did happen."
The Police Association has weighed in behind the officer, saying "armchair critics" should put themselves in his shoes before making a judgment.
"We believe he was left with no choice to take the action he did," said president Greg O'Connor.
"The officer has got to react in circumstances that he sees at the time. He has no choice but to be there.
"It's essential people sit back and wait for the results of the inquiry."
Mr Cross, 19, said he and Ms Duke had just pulled up in their driveway when they witnessed the shooting nearby.
As they pulled up so did a police wagon just down the road.
"I first saw the lights and saw a police officer had just come around the back of the wagon, and the guy that was shot was in between the wagon and a black car that was there.
"It was about five seconds before the shooting and the guy that was shot was standing still, stationary, with both his hands by his sides. And I couldn't see any weapon in his hands. They didn't look like they were clenched or holding anything."
Mr Cross did not see the policeman pull his Glock pistol out, but heard three popping sounds "that didn't really sound like gunshots".
He said the policeman fired from only a metre or two away.
"I was kind of hoping it was a Taser or something at that stage. The guy kind of collapsed and rolled on to his back, and nobody checked him for five or 10 minutes."
Widely different accounts of police shooting
"The man advanced on the police officer with a hammer and was shot after being warned."
- Superintendent Sandra Manderson
"The man just charged him with a hammer raised above his head with both hands."
- Corroborating witness Chris Young
"The guy that was shot was standing still, stationary, with both his hands by his sides."
- Witness Keiran Cross had a different account
- with NZPA
