Post mortem confirms gunman shot in the head

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Tue, 19 Jul 2011 11:04a.m. UPDATED: 12:45PM

Anthony Ratahi (l) in a photo posted on his Facebook tribute page

Anthony Ratahi (l) in a photo posted on his Facebook tribute page

By Dan Satherley

A post mortem on the man fatally shot by police on the weekend in Opunake has confirmed he died of a single shot to the head.

Forty-six-year-old Anthony Ratahi was killed when he refused to give himself up to police on Saturday.

The night before, he stormed the Opunake Headlands restaurant, abducting a former girlfriend and holding her hostage in a hotel overnight.

"The post mortem findings form an important part of the overall police investigation into the incident," says Detective Superintendent Andrew Lovelock.

"Running parallel with the police investigation is a review into the compliance by Police in terms of practice, policy and procedure, which is a standard practice.

"In addition, there is an inquiry underway by the Independent Police Conduct Authority which should provide further reassurance to the public that the matter will be overseen with impartiality.

"Investigations of this nature inevitably take some time to complete and it may be a number of months before full details of the events at the weekend can be publicly disclosed."

The Maori Party has questioned whether the police needed to use lethal force, saying Ratahi was already under attack from a police dog at the time he was shot.

“Whanau members have raised concerns about the fatal shooting of Anthony Roydon Ratahi who was killed by police on Saturday morning," says Justice spokesperson for the Maori Party, Rahui Katene.

“They are seeking answers as to why it was necessary to shoot Mr Ratahi when there are other methods of control and restraint available; and particularly when it was evident he was struggling to fight off a police dog at the time of the shooting.

“This was a tragic situation that played out over 13 hours.   The whanau want to be assured that every opportunity to use non-lethal measures was taken up before the police resorted to using the gun as their weapon of choice”.

She took offence to Police Association president Greg O'Connor's comments that "99 percent" of New Zealanders supported the use of lethal force to subdue Ratahi.

“The feedback I have received suggests that people want to be assured that due process was followed; and the opportunity to ask questions and receive effective responses is an important means of retaining public confidence in the police” says Mrs Katene.

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Comments

23 Jul 2011 01:55a.m.

SWess wrote:

He was a father & a grandfather! He may not be here to read the comments posted on sites or that are in the newspapers but they are & so are the rest of his family! What if that was your relative in that situation??

20 Jul 2011 08:48a.m.

Tazer wrote:

What a vile bunch of rancid old no neck's you lot are. Christ only knows why you would applaud the death of a man, you people are neeed to put down the pipe and step away from the bottle, now!

19 Jul 2011 08:15p.m.

Offcut wrote:

Exellent, job well done, just need to get the tally up though.

19 Jul 2011 06:08p.m.

David wrote:

It took them a post mortem to figure that out??

19 Jul 2011 05:40p.m.

RolanTheRat wrote:

The police are not trained to wound someone they are trained to kill as for the head shot maybe he was holding a weapon and the best shot was the head shot for an instant kill to save the women's life.Sad turn of events but his own doing.

19 Jul 2011 04:28p.m.

James J.REad wrote:

Good on the Police. The suggestion made since his shooting that the action was racially motivated is outrageous.The Whanau were not the ones to put their lives on the line.It was a perfect example of why tasers are of very limited use.With his criminal record, few will be mourning him. If the body is welcomed on to a marae, it will demonstrate the values held by its kaumatua.

19 Jul 2011 03:40p.m.

cherie wrote:

We do not have a policy of shoot to wound.
That would be just plain silly

19 Jul 2011 02:37p.m.

Leza wrote:

One shot to the head. Good work I say. Now his ex can live in peace and there is no waiting and wondering when it couls happen again. My thoughts to all the police involved. I am sure that they would have rather the situation was different, but they did what they had to.

19 Jul 2011 02:06p.m.

Rex wrote:

Exactly Nigel... This is BS...

19 Jul 2011 01:40p.m.

Georgia wrote:

They could've shot him somewhere else instead of killing him. He's a son, most probably a father, maybe a koro. That's just wrong shooting him in the head.