Police pursue armed fugitive
A man holed up in a Porirua house had been speaking ‘‘with his nan’’ on the phone from inside the property, as well as with police, a source said.
Police wanted to speak to Pita Rangi Tekira in relation to an incident in which a police dog was fatally shot and an officer was injured when he jumped from a second storey window to avoid a gunman on Friday morning.
In a press conference on Friday afternoon Wellington district commander Superintendent Sam Hoyle said the officer ‘‘jumped out the window immediately after the dog was shot to escape the gunman’’. The officer sustained fractures, he said.
Hoyle appealed for the alleged gunman to contact police and turn himself in.
Hoyle said it had ‘‘harrowing day’’ for all.
Police were supporting the injured officer and his family, as well as the dog handler.
Residents were evacuated from Kokiri Cres.
Hoyle said police were confident Tekira was within the ‘‘area of operation’’ and they would remain in the area until he was caught. The police dog died at the scene. Meanwhile, police appeared to be moving in on their target.
About 2.30pm more armed offenders squad personnel arrived, with one putting on a pack and heading up Warspite Ave.
Yelling could still be heard coming from within the cordon, and the armed officers were crawling over Kokiri Cres sections.
Police spokeswoman Rachel Purdom earlier said police entered a house at the centre of the incident on Friday morning.
‘‘The information we have at the moment is that the offender is not in the house.’’
Purdom said police were warning people around Kokiri Cres to stay indoors and watch out for the offender.
He could be in the wider eastern Porirua area, she said, but police were not aware if he had a been a vehicle. In a statement, police said they would like to talk to Pita Rangi Tekira, in relation to the incident.
Any friends or whanau of Tekira who had knowledge of his whereabouts were asked to contact police.
About 11.30am nearby residents reported hearing what sounded like gunshots around the scene of the incident. On social media, locals reported male offender was walking a around with a gun about 10am.
One neighbour said she heard a ‘‘loud scream’’ coming from two doors down about 9.30am.
She saw ‘‘a lady cop and two guy cops’’ running out the driveway. She said one was carrying a dog, which had been shot.
‘‘All I saw was all this blood dripping from the dog.’’
Then she saw a guy running from the house with a ‘‘big gun’’.
The gunman ran off chased by an armed police officer. Tekira is a convicted aggravated robber who also has a history of escaping from court.
He was previously jailed for four years for aggravated robbery. While serving this sentence he escaped with another man from a Wellington District Court cell using stolen security cards and keys in 2005.
The pair’s escape lasted barely an hour and they were recaptured in Wellington – still wearing prison sweatshirts. A year was added to Tekira’s jail term for the escape.