Radio New Zealand - Te Reo Irirangi o Aotearoa

Police say officer justified in shooting man 14 times

Updated at 5:05 am on 8 May 2012

A police investigation into the fatal shooting of a man has found it was justified.

However, the mother of Lachan Kelly-Tumarae, 19, who was shot at 14 times after he twice pointed a shotgun at officers, is shocked by the findings.

Detective Superintendent Andy Lovelock says Mr Kelly-Tumarae posed a significant threat to officers in a car when he pointed a loaded shotgun at them at point-blank range on 28 March last year.

Mr Lovelock says the incident near Napier took only 26 seconds from the time the Hawke's Bay man got out of his car to the time the shooting ended.

The investigation found an officer fired 14 shots at Mr Kelly-Tumarae - a number of them before he realised that he was aiming too low.

Mr Kelly-Tumarae was then handcuffed as police said he was still quite aggressive. However, after officers realised how injured he was, the handcuffs were removed and first aid administered.

The man later died in Hawke's Bay Hospital from injuries, including a shot to the abdomen and one through the right thigh.

Mereheni Tumarae told Radio New Zealand's Checkpoint programme on Monday she does not agree that the shooting of her son was justified.

"That officer should be in the army - send him to Afghanistan. Fourteen bullets - a glock does not even hold 14 bullets - which obviously means that he's had to change his round, and he started all over again."

Ms Tumarae says she wishes police had just injured her son.

Police say their investigation is complete and the case will be referred to the Coroner.

An Independent Police Conduct Authority investigation is continuing.

Listen to Checkpoint interview with Mereheni Tumarae

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