Police officers: We were doing our job
With the alleged mosque terrorist in sight, two country cops put their ‘‘total trust’’ in each other’s abilities as they gave chase.
The officers, who had known each other for many years and played rugby together, had ‘‘total faith that the other would do their job and continue to go forward regardless of what we encountered’’. It was about 2pm on March 15 when the officers saw the alleged gunman’s gold Subaru in Brougham St, Christchurch, driving erratically with its hazard lights on. At this time they had no idea how many gunmen there were but were in the area because they believed there was a good chance the offender or offenders would have left the two mosques where, it would later emerge, 51 people had been fatally shot. They rammed the car to the side of the road – 18 minutes after police received the first 111 call from the Al Noor Masjid in Deans Ave – and, ignoring the bombs in the back seat, they dragged the alleged gunman through the passenger side of the car.
The suspect was thought to have been speeding to his third target, the Ashburton Masjid, and allegedly told the arresting officers eight other shooters were involved. But by the afternoon of March 16, police were confident the accused killer acted alone.
A passer-by videoed the dramatic arrest, which Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said at the time could only be described as an act of bravery.
Yesterday, Police Association president Chris Cahill announced the two police officers had been awarded the 2019 New Zealand Police Association Bravery Award. Ardern gave them the awards in a private ceremony during the association’s 84th annual conference in Wellington.
In a joint statement, the country cops, known as officers A and B while their names are suppressed, thanked their colleagues who nominated them for the award and acknowledged the other first responders.
‘‘We were doing our job and were part of a huge and focused operation which resulted in the arrest of the alleged gunman. In doing our job we represented all police staff around the country who put themselves in harm’s way every day. This includes those who have gone before us who set the bar high for the rest of us to meet,’’ the officers said.
It was earlier reported the pair had been at Princess Margaret Hospital in Cashmere, where they had been training on a disused floor in how to deal with an armed offender, when they heard reports about an active shooter in the central city.
Rather than making a beeline for one of the mosques, they tried to predict where the gunman might head next.