Gunman kills New Zealand police officer - photo by Wikimedia Commons
New Zealand police have arrested a man believed to be the fugitive wanted for the murder of a police officer, the shooting of a second officer and injuring a pedestrian.
The unnamed man, aged 24, was arrested on Friday afternoon in Auckland following the incident on Friday morning in the suburb of Massey.
He has subsequently been charged various offences including murder, attempted murder and dangerous driving causing injury. He will appear in the Waitākere District Court on Saturday.
A second person, believed to have been with the man at the time of the shooting, has also been detained for questioning. A firearm has been recovered.
At the time of writing, a general arming order was still in place for the Auckland district. This means that all police officers will carry firearms until such time that police are sure that they have the right suspects in custody.
The deceased officer is the first to be killed in the line of duty in New Zealand since 2009. That officer was Senior Constable Len Snee, who was shot by Jan Molenaar in Napier. Molenaar also wounded two other people before committing suicide.
Friday’s incident unfolded just before 10:30am Auckland time, when the two officers attempted to stop a vehicle of interest. It failed to stop and the officers found it a short while later in a street in the suburb of Massey.
As the officers approached the vehicle, the alleged gunman produced what is described as a ‘long-barrelled firearm’ and opened fire, hitting both officers.
The alleged offender then got into another vehicle and fled the scene with another person. A pedestrian was knocked over in the process and is in hospital in a stable condition.
The police officers involved have not been identified and Police Commissioner Andrew Coster said no further information would be released about them. However, both were from the Waitemata District and their families were “devastated”, said Coster.
“Our priority is to hold this offender to account,” the commissioner said. “I ask that you keep this officer’s family in your thoughts, as their loved one will not be coming home tonight.”