Police ‘panic shot’ hits window
A ‘‘panic shot’’ from a police officer during an armed shootout with a gunman blasted through the window of a community house while a meeting was being held downstairs.
Tolu Ma’anaima, 33, was shot twice in the lower body by police in Christchurch just before 7.30pm on Tuesday after a pursuit ended in Eveleyn Couzins Ave, Richmond.
Ma’anaima allegedly crouched behind his car, which had hit road spikes and lost a tyre, and opened fire at officers with a shotgun. Police returned fire using Glock pistols and Bushmaster rifles.
Avebury House house manager Tanya Didham said two bullets struck the property, which is about 200 metres from the scene. One bullet went through a window upstairs while a second hit the garage.
Didham, who was not at the house at the time of the shooting, said she first heard about the shootout when she received a call from a member of the Richmond Residents and Business Association which was holding a meeting at the time.
‘‘There was a number of people downstairs, it was very frightening for them.’’
Police told Didham the bullet was the result of a ‘‘panic shot’’.
‘‘The police officer would’ve been adrenaline-fuelled in the moment and had his weapon held too high, and he was shooting into the air basically because to hit that second storey window he’s shooting in a really odd direction at a crazy angle.
‘‘It was clearly going off target and not aimed at the gunman, it was just extremely lucky that there was no classes in that room.’’
Canterbury district commander Superintendent John Price told media an ESR scientist told him the bullet appeared to ricochet.
Didham said the room had ‘‘shards of glass everywhere’’ the following morning, with the outside of the property ‘‘a massive ballistics crime scene’’.
Didham spent the last couple of days cancelling several bookings while also trying to ensure two weddings would go ahead at the venue over the weekend.
A community barbecue is due to be held on Tuesday for the residents.
Superintendent Price said earlier it was unclear how many shots were fired by the offender, and how many were fired by police.
Five police officers in four cars were involved in Tuesday’s gun battle.
One of the police cars was left riddled with ‘‘bullet holes’’.
Ma’anaima remains in Christchurch Hospital. A condition update was not available on Thursday.
Days earlier, Ma’anaima is alleged to have fired shots at police cars from the same Holden – while it was moving – in two separate incidents in the early hours of Saturday.
Police are searching for two other people thought to have been in a car with Ma’anaima late on Friday night.
Detective Senior Sergeant Greg Cottam said police knew there were three people in the car about two hours before Saturday’s incidents.
‘‘We don’t know who was in the car at the time of the shots, so we’re therefore trying to locate those two people as witnesses.’’
Following the shooting Price made a directive to arm all frontline officers as police searched for the second man.
Price said he ordered the arming of frontline officers about ‘‘a handful of times’’ a year.
It means officers routinely carry guns, rather than have them stored in their cars.
The current order was being reviewed daily, but was in place until further notice, Price told staff.