Anatomy of a police shooting
‘‘I knew then this could be the end. It was the way he looked at me and the cuddle. I knew he was prepared to die.’’
These were the words of a friend of Ford Hurunui, armed with a pump action shotgun, near the end of a tense standoff with police on a dead end Motueka street.
The friend was holding a small child as he emerged from his house on Wharepapa Grove where Hurinui and a friend had abandoned their car after a short police pursuit.
Hand over the gun, the friend said. He had kids at home and didn’t want them to be unsafe.
Hurinui told him it was ‘‘all over’’ and the police should shoot him. But in the next breath he said his shotgun wasn’t loaded and he was stalling for the car driver who had taken off.
Hurinui started to cry: ‘‘ My friend was crying with his kid in his arms. What the f... have I done? I looked around and there was police. F... what am I doing?’’
‘‘Put the gun down,’’ Hurinui’s friend said. He tried to grab the weapon.
A police officer flicked his rifle safety catch off and screamed at Hurinui’s friend to get back inside his house. He disappeared. Hurinui was alone with the police.
Pressure was building and Hurinui had nowhere to go. Shuffling on tip-toe he made his way towards one of the officers lifting his gun. It looked ‘‘like he was getting ready to take the shot.’’
He yelled ‘‘This is how it ends for me.’’
It was 3.50pm on August 20, 2015.
The details of the standoff were part of an Independent Police Conduct Authority Report published yesterday that found police were justified in shooting Hurinui. He spent about a month in hospital, and is now in jail.
The lead up
On August 20 Hurinui, who was wanted for breaching a protection order, was spotted in Motueka.
Nelson police Officer A found Hurinui in Staples St where the wanted man accepted a lift from a friend in a white Mitsubishi Gallant. One of the officers knew of the car’s links to a gang member known to carry firearms.
As police gave chase Hurinui told the driver: ‘‘All I’ve got is a breach of protection order so you’re better off just pulling over.’’ But Hurinui’s friend refused to stop because police wanted to arrest him too.
The car was travelling 100kmh down 50kmh streets. The pursuit lasted only four minutes before the car started to ‘‘badly smoke’’ and stopped in Wharepapa Grove.‘‘I don’t wanna go back [to prison], I’ve got heaps to lose ... so if you can cover for me ... there’s a gun in the boot and here’s the ammo,’’ the driver said.
Showdown
Hurinui grabbed the gun from the boot, cocked it and seeing it was empty turned to face the police.
Officer A grabbed his rifle from the car safe and used the driver’s door as cover. ‘‘Put the firearm down,’’ he said. The other officer had his pistol pointed at Hurinui while he took cover behind the bonnet of his car. They called for backup.
Hurinui recognised Officer A as the policeman who had previously arrested him. Believing he had ‘‘never liked’’ him, Hurinui said ‘‘you’re gonna shoot me anyway if I put the gun down or not. You don’t even f ... ing like me, you’ve always wanted to shoot me.’’
He started to swing the rifle between the two officers, ‘‘rehearsing’’.
‘‘You bring that f ... ing gun up, I’m going to have to shoot you. You leave me no choice,’’ Officer A said.
‘‘I’m not f...ing going to jail. I’m not going back,’’ Hurinui replied.
The next 24 minutes would see Hurinui switch between periods of calm and high agitation as police tried to talk him into dropping his weapon.
After his friend’s failed attempt, Hurinui’s sister begged him to put the gun down. He ignored her.
He started to take half steps on his toes toward Officer A.
A witness said Hurinui was ‘‘crying, shaking’’ when it appeared he ‘‘made a decision so he straightened up. Took a deep breath and started raising the rifle.’’
Both his hands were on the gun, one on the trigger area. He focused on Officer A and planted his feet to stabilise himself, the witness said.
Officer A ‘‘thought he was going to be shot’’. He fired one shot at Hurinui who fell to the ground.
The bullet struck him in the left side of his chest, damaging his heart and liver.
Hurinui later said he didn’t remember the moment he lifted his gun but there was a ‘‘slight chance’’ he did.
He was sentenced to five years and nine months jail last month for using a firearm against police and intent to injure.
The authority found Officer A was justified in shooting Hurinui, as the ‘‘only tactical option available ... in the circumstances.’’