Second shooting suspect wanted
The identity of a wanted man who sparked a district-wide arming of frontline police in Canterbury can now be revealed.
Treik Allen, 20, was allegedly in a car from which shots were fired at police cars in two incidents in Christchurch on Saturday night and may be armed, district commander Superintendent John Price said.
Price said police had already made contact with Allen earlier in the week and asked him to ‘‘do the right thing’’.
‘‘We’ve been hoping that person would come back to us, and they’ve failed to do that.’’
The decision was made to arm all frontline officers after officers with Glock pistols and Bushmaster rifles allegedly traded shots with Tolu Ma’anaima, 33, following a pursuit involving the same car on Tuesday night. Officers shot Ma’anaima twice and he remains in a critical, but stable, condition in hospital.
One of the shots fired by police is thought to have ricocheted though the window of a community house while a meeting was being held downstairs.
The arming directive means officers routinely carry guns, rather than having them stored in their cars. The move has prompted concerns about a potential ‘‘blanket arming’’ of police, but Price defended the move. He said there was a ‘‘heightened risk’’ and officers deserved to be keep safe. ‘‘This is not general arming,’’ he said.
The order to arm frontline staff was made about once a year, he said on Friday.
Earlier, Price said officers already had access to firearms, with Glock pistols and Bushmaster rifles in their cars. An officer could, after a risk assessment, already carry a firearm while attending a call-out.
‘‘All I’m saying to them now is you can carry your Glock on the side of your person permanently during that period of time.’’
All 12 district commanders have the authority to arm their officers if they deem it necessary. Police national headquarters said they did not keep records of how many times district commanders used this power.
Price said he believed the risk from the man was to police, not the general public.
Earlier, Southern district commander Superintendent Paul Basham would not say how often he had used it in his district, but said it was only used in rare occasions and not done ‘‘lightly’’.
‘‘It’s not that this signals a general arming of the police,’’ he said. ‘‘We’d use it if we needed to.’’
Police Minister Stuart Nash said he had faith in district commanders to make the best decisions about deployment, resourcing and operational responses. Routine arming of police was not on the horizon, he said.
Anyone who has seen Allen or has information about his whereabouts is asked to call Christchurch police on 03 3637400.