Police admit 'stray bullet' killed teenager

24 Jan 2010 09:07a.m.

John Cox wrote:

If I fired shots intending to kill or seriously injure a gunman, and unintentionally hit two bystanders, killing one, I would be charged with manslaughter, if not murder. It may have been a "stray bullet", but that would be no excuse. The police however are clearly above the law....

29 Jan 2009 09:48p.m.

Tony wrote:

Mr Key? Are you out there? Can you sleep at night with all this going on in our country? What you gonna do John? People getting shot, people getting run over in driveways .......Where are you John?

27 Jan 2009 05:54p.m.

Trixie wrote:

if it was anyone else it would be called MANSLAUGHTER... that cop needs to stand up and take it like anyone else would have to. they are not above the law and need to stop lying to the public.

rest in peace Halatau

26 Jan 2009 09:57p.m.

jarrod wrote:

i know that if the cops had just let him go that kid would not had got hit i know because steve mcdonld is my father and he wouldnt have done wot he did unless he was back in to a conner and the cops know this because they have had dealings with for many years my love go's out to the kid and he's family i would not like it if it happen to mine i have a 2year old girl but the way i see it is who controls the boards of this country ay the cops so how did these drugs get here and you dont expect stuff like this to happen because without drugs cops would not have jobs.some one was saying fire if fired upon?maybe so but!!!with a 100%shot if not DO NOT FIRE.

26 Jan 2009 05:57p.m.

stewart wrote:

Alan my friend, I am not privileged to have SF cousins and be invited to their ranges like yourself. I have however; have been lucky to do a short stint with such operators on ops. You first say the M4 is not as accurate as some may like to think…then you say the M4 is a dam fine shot??? The M4 is not a dam fine shot…it’s the trained operator of such weapon, which is the dam fine shot. In this case, the highly trained AOS operator made a mistake that cost an innocent life. Sure he was doing his job, trying to protect the public. And no one is perfect. My opinion is that an elite operator, who is highly trained in weapons, special tactics and Rules of Engagement, either had a clear well aimed shot or no shot at all.
I agree with you that nothing ever goes to plan. Before I head out with my teams, we always have a good set of orders, to make sure we all know what s happening. We always make an emphasis on Actions on and ROE s. Things never go right 100% like you said. But after being in situations like that where we have been shot at and blown up on the roads, we still do not engage with the enemy where there are innocent bystanders around. Would you shoot back Alan?
I am not slagging on our police. I am very disappointed, after being through worse situations than this that this has occurred. If the methods our elite AOS was the best they had for that situation…they need to go back to the drawing board and work on some ROE training.
Have you had any invites for picking up brass from your SF cousins in the US lately Alan?

26 Jan 2009 09:13a.m.

J B wrote:

Alan Alan Alan – You need to make up your mind. Ref the M4 first you said and I quote “it is NOT as accurate as some may love to think, END OF STORY…..But now you’re saying and I quote…“Quite right, the M4 is a damn fine shot “
Your right about things not going to plan – But in this situation that has occurred there are many questions that need to be answered?
Who was in charge of the AOS once on the scene who gave the command to take the shot? Was there are breakdown in communication? What was the command given? Yes I have a clear shot or was it first in first serve? 4-5 so called AIMED shots and what was the result – (The idiot in the skyline got a bit of shrapnel, the poor truck driver got a bit of shrapnel and the young father was killed with a shot to the chest)
Was there a quick appreciation once on the ground to help minimize the risk?
At the end of the day the AOS stuffed up as they know – Risk management goes a long way and all the public ask for now is INTEGRITY! Show them what really happened and don’t try to sugar coat it! Because that just makes the public lose more faith in your police/AOS.

26 Jan 2009 08:22a.m.

Gabrielle wrote:

Police first protect their own,they will say under the circumstances the shooting was justified just look at other police shootings in New Zealand no police have ever been convicted this sort of action against the community its legalised homocide.

26 Jan 2009 03:14a.m.

alan wrote:

Quite right, the M4 is a damn fine shot and it was an amazing couple of days seeing and participating in what I did manage to do alongside some really fine shots - but my point mainly was: we cannot, and should not, expect things to go right 100% of the time, ALL the time. The police don't have it all their way, neither do the army (someone called for the army to be sent in in a situation like this - which is an interesting point actually and maybe quite worthy of a separate debate as far as training and formation of a specialist sharpshooting squad for precisely this reason), but I'll wager things don't go right for you 100% of the time either. I'm not saying AT ALL that this is any less of a tragedy. It is, unquestionably. But, let's just try and hold a little of the vehemence back, because I think we're probably ALL going to be jumping to conclusions about this either way in fact, and making assumptions about where this officer was, what he saw, versus what we THINK he saw or 'should' have seen, or the circumstances and timing under which he would have had to make a decision. That's all - it doesn't mean cut any slack into investigating it, but it also doesn't mean a hang 'em high mentality should prevail either. The real, real culprit is an individual who started these events in motion - and that certainly wasn't the police.

26 Jan 2009 12:11a.m.

Mia wrote:

I totally agree with JB, and I am glad that a Homicide investigation is underway and hopefully the Police do not find a "way out" of this one...as they have done in the past.
David, James and Daniel, the Police should be held accountable, the AOS guy who murdered the poor teenage boy was just trigger happy and that is NOT ACTING SENSIBLY TO PROTECT THE PUBLIC.

25 Jan 2009 11:01p.m.

Brigitte wrote:

Stewart - you are right re the Stephen Wallis shooting, only as in there needs to be a revision in tactics, Wallis was as this other idiot was, angry, and determined to do as much damage as possible, but I still feel that a shot to disarm/disable would have been the better option, Wallis however was still advancing at a rapid and unrepentant pace when shot the first and second time!

Mystery666 - agree with you also, no way would they have aimed for the innoccent on purpose.

This incident is just very very sad all round. I understand the families anger - hopefully in time they will see just what the situation really was. The police officer concerned will be hurting just as they are at this moment.