Shooting stuns community
THE tightknit community of Invercargill and the New Zealand police ‘‘family’’, are reeling after a local officer allegedly murdered his wife on Tuesday night before trying to kill another man she lived with, then turning himself in.
Constable Ben McLean (47) was charged with murder and attempted murder over the Anzac Day double shooting, in a case police believe could the first of its kind in modern times.
Verity Ann McLean — also known by the nickname ‘‘Bert’’ — died in the shooting and Garry William Duggan suffered several gunshot wounds before he managed to phone emergency services at 8.19pm on Tuesday.
Mr Duggan is understood to have been in a relationship with Mrs McLean (nee Barber), and lived with her at the industrial Otepuni Ave property in Newfield where the shooting happened.
He is now in hospital in a stable condition.
McLean, who was injured in the incident, was married to Verity McLean.
They had three children, aged between 9 and 19.
About 40 minutes after the shooting, he handed himself in at the Invercargill police station where he worked, police said.
Invercargill Mayor Tim Shadbolt said in his 23 years as the city’s leader he had never encountered anything so sad.
‘‘It’s just devastating for this community.
‘‘So many people seem to know personally the people involved, and that makes it all the more tragic in a small, closeknit community such as ours.’’
McLean appeared at a bedside hearing of the Invercargill District Court before Judge Mark Callaghan in Southland Hospital yesterday afternoon.
Bail was not sought and he was remanded in custody to May 18.
Senior officers from outside the Southland district, Detective Inspector Steve Wood, of Dunedin, and Detective Superin tendent Peter Read, of Canterbury, were called in to oversee the homicide investigation.
Southern District commander Superintendent Paul Basham said the move was important to ensure an impartial investigation.
While the McLean and Duggan families last night refused to comment — and private security was placed at both the shooting scene and at properties linked to the McLeans — the incident is the talk of the city.
One local, who did not wish to be named, says he knew McLean as a ‘‘likeable, professional beat officer’’.
‘‘We’re all absolutely shocked,’’ he said.
‘‘Stuff like this never happens in places like Invercargill.’’
Supt Basham acknowledged the impact the incident was having on the wider families of the three people involved, and also on the ‘‘police family’’ in Invercargill.
‘‘As district commander, I am immensely proud of their professionalism and integrity in the way they conducted themselves last night in what were extreme circumstances.’’
A friend of the McLeans, who claimed to know ‘‘all of the parties involved’’, said the McLeans had not been living together.
‘‘All I can think of is those kids. Their whole life has been torn apart,’’ she said.
Mrs McLean was a ‘‘bright, bubbly’’ person, the friend said.
‘‘She was a fantastic mum . . . I’ve got nothing bad to say about either of them.’’
A cordon surrounded the Otepuni Ave scene last night as investigations continued.
A large police tent was erected on the footpath as ballistics specialists helped police reconstruct events.
A firearm was recovered, police said, but no policeissue weapon was used in the crime.
Police are asking people who might know more about the incident to come forward.
‘‘Our focus is to understand exactly what has happened,’’ Supt Basham said. — Additional reporting Dubby Henry and Cherie Howie