Fatal shot justified, says IPCA

A police watchdog has found two Armed Offenders Squad members who shot and killed a man in Kawerau were justified in firing, but should have stayed back to avoid escalating the situation.

Astin Hooper was shot by police on February 21, 2019, an Independent Police Conduct Authority (IPCA) report released yesterday said. Hooper had stolen a shotgun and a ute from his father’s home and robbed the Kawerau First Credit Union at about 9am that day. When local officers found Hooper in the ute about 40 minutes later, he chased their police car twice around a truck turning bay before driving off.

Shortly after, police caught up to the ute and began pursuing Hooper. About 10.21am, Hooper stopped the ute on the side of Onepu Springs Rd.

Two police cars stopped behind him, keeping a distance of about 100 metres. A third police car stopped about 80 metres away on the other side, creating a cordon in an attempt to contain Hooper. Shortly after, the two Armed Offenders Squad (AOS) officers drove past the police vehicles and towards the ute, intending to arrest Hooper.

As they approached, they saw him pointing a firearm towards them from within the ute. The officers stopped and took cover by their vehicle, aiming their rifles at Hooper and calling on him to surrender. Hooper then fired the shotgun once towards the AOS officers, who fired nine shots back at him.

He suffered five gunshot wounds and, despite receiving first aid within a minute of being shot, died at the scene. The IPCA found the officers were legally justified in shooting Hooper in self-defence. However, before that became necessary, they should have stopped at the cordon and sought to de-escalate the situation by communicating with him, the report said.

‘‘By driving closer to Mr Hooper, the AOS officers escalated the situation, put themselves within range of his shotgun and prompted his reaction. Mr Hooper’s decision to aim and fire his shotgun at the AOS officers was entirely his own responsibility, but the police response should have afforded him a greater opportunity to reconsider his actions,’’ Authority Chair Judge Colin Doherty said.