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Bedside court appearance for man charged with shooting

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Wed, 23 Dec 2009 9:47a.m.

Mr Snow was reported to be conscious and out of danger but was likely to be in hospital for some time

Mr Snow was reported to be conscious and out of danger but was likely to be in hospital for some time

A 28-year-old man is due to appear in a special hospital court sitting today charged with the attempted murder of a South Auckland policeman.

The man was reportedly injured when bitten by a police dog during his arrest yesterday, after Constable Jeremy Snow was shot three times as he and a colleague approached a car with its hazard lights flashing in Papatoetoe about 4am.

The 28-year-old man was expected to be remanded in custody.

He was arrested a short time after the shooting.

He received "minor injuries when he was apprehended by police and will be spending the next few days in hospital", said Superintendent Mike Bush of Counties Manukau Police.

He said the wounded police officer was making great progress.

"Police investigators interviewed him last night and they managed to obtain his version of events.

"We are still looking for one more person who is of interest to us, we know who he is and the investigation team are working hard to locate him," said Mr Bush.

He said police still wanted to hear from the public about the shooting and urged people to call Counties Manukau Police on 09 295 0200 or anonymously on Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

Mr Snow, who was shot in each leg and once in the elbow, collapsed on the ground bleeding profusely after one of the bullets hit a major blood vessel in his leg.

His colleague backed off and called for help and within minutes armed police had rushed in and rescued Mr Snow and taken him to a waiting ambulance.

Today Mr Snow was reported to be conscious and out of danger but was likely to be in hospital for some time.

Police were also expected to focus on four areas around Buckingham Crescent in Papatoetoe, looking for cartridges and other evidence.

Yesterday three weapons were found, a shotgun, a high-powered rifle and a pistol but police said it was still too soon to say which of the three weapons was used in the attack on Mr Snow.

Senior police officers praised colleagues, who rescued Mr Snow, as "brave and gutsy".

Doctors who treated Mr Snow said had he not been rescued so promptly, there was a good chance he would have bled to death.

Mr Snow's colleague had called for help at a neighbour's house after bashing on the door and warning the people inside to stay on the floor and not to go near the windows.

Assistant Police Commissioner Viv Rickard praised the rescue of Mr Snow.

"It is gutsy. We saw that in Napier [when police officer Len Snee was shot dead in May] and in other places throughout New Zealand in the last 12 months, and we have seen it again here today," he told NZPA.

Police Minister Judith Collins said there was an increasing disrespect for the law from a small sector of the community "who think it's fine to take pot shots at our officers".

"The police represent the rule of law in New Zealand," she told Radio New Zealand.

"They are not simply the individuals, they represent something much bigger than that, and I think it's absolutely important that we, in upholding the rule of law, acknowledge that and give them their due respect."

NZPA

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Comments

26 Dec 2009 08:07a.m.

Jan.. wrote:

The crimes in this country is out of control and that only leave the systems to be under suspicions with this maniac is arrested and to be imprisonment pay his due and out in couple of years, this maniac who committed this evil crimes should be imprisonment for life..

23 Dec 2009 11:07a.m.

cynical wrote:

Andrew, for a wholesale respect of the law, you need to address the lawyers who argue the untenable. If Police cannot be protected by the legal profession by putting this scum away for a long time, then nobody will want to be in the Police anymore. As a result, I disagree with you very strongly, especially in this light of Police getting shot at.

23 Dec 2009 10:29a.m.

Andrew wrote:

Judith Collins states : "They are not simply the individuals, they represent something much bigger than that, and I think it's absolutely important that we, in upholding the rule of law, acknowledge that and give them their due respect."

Whilst I agree we should have the utmost respect for the law and law enforcement officers, unfortunately a few bad apples within the police force are ruining it for the rest. There are a handful of officers with a 'God complex' as evidenced in a number of court cases over the past couple of years, and we need to purge our police force of these sorts of individuals before we can expect a wholesale respect for the law.