An Auckland police officer says he raised his hands as if to surrender when confronted by two men armed with an air rifle.
Officer M is giving evidence at the High Court trial of John Skinner and Iain Clegg, who are accused of attempting to murder him and of murdering Sergeant Don Wilkinson.
The policemen had been attempting to install a tracking device on Mr Skinner's car when they set off a sensor light and were discovered.
Officer M told the High Court in Auckland he and Mr Wilkinson took off but slowed when they thought they were out of danger.
However, they heard a car and were confronted in a driveway they had ducked into.
Officer M says he raised his hands as if to surrender but was shot three or four times from less than a metre away.
He heard three shots fired, followed by groans from Mr Wilkinson.
Other evidence
Earlier, a senior policeman with more than 40 years experience was of lying and failing to preserve the scene where his two colleagues were gunned down.
Under cross examination by the defence, the head of the covert unit the policemen belonged to admitted he removed their bloodied backpacks before a scene examination could be carried out.
Officer W explained his actions by saying the contents of the bags was so secretive he could not even risk other officers discovering them.
The defence has suggested the real reason is that the bags contained firearms.
Officer W was also asked to explain discrepancies in his initial written statement and replied that he was loathe to sign the document at the time as he was having issues with the Detective Superintendent who interviewed him.
In other evidence from Officer M, he described Mr Wilkinson as focused, methodical and unflappable.
Officer M told the court he had worked alongside Mr Wilkinson on many occasions during his nine years service with the police.
When asked about his partner's professionalism, he said: "He was the most professional person I have ever worked with," and burst into tears.
