The police search in 1996 for gunman Terrence Thompson following the shooting of Constable Glenn McKibbin in a Flaxmere street 30 years ago. At the front of the search party was Len Snee who was shot dead by a gunman in Napier 13 years later.
The police search in 1996 for gunman Terrence Thompson following the shooting of Constable Glenn McKibbin in a Flaxmere street 30 years ago. At the front of the search party was Len Snee who was shot dead by a gunman in Napier 13 years later.
One of the worst moments in Hawke’s Bay police history was recalled this week when staff marked 30 years since the slaying of Constable Glenn McKibbin by a random gunman 30 years ago.
The moment, 10.58am on Sunday, April 21, 1996, is clearly remembered, still with measures of disbelief bysuch officers as still-serving Detective Sergeant Darren Pritchard, and Inspector Mike O’Leary, who had his last day on the job three weeks ago.
Both were on duty that morning when they heard the wounded officer calling for help on the radio - Pritchard just as he was heading out of the station on another call and O’Leary in charge of the station as acting senior sergeant.
This week, Pritchard co-ordinated the memorial, a moment’s silence at the Hastings station, which is also police Eastern District Headquarters, and graveside in the rain at Havelock North.
O’Leary had started a long-planned retirement trip abroad with wife Debbie.
The shooting has long been recalled for its timing and callousness.
If there was a time and place where such outrage could be least expected it was in residential suburbia around 11am on a Sunday.
Gunman Terence Thompson was driving through Flaxmere when he spotted the officer - aged 25 and a young dad - talking to a motorist stopped in Yarmouth Rd, near a house at the western Yarmouth Rd intersection with Margate Ave.
Thompson turned his mustard-coloured Ford Falcon, levelled his gun at the officer, fired and drove off.
Abandoning the vehicle in rural Raukawa Rd, Thompson, who had had territorial army training and appeared to have good outdoor skills, was then on the run for two months in Hawke’s Bay’s biggest police manhunt.
It ended when he was shot while apparently ignoring a request to surrender and reaching for a firearm in his bag when confronted by armed police in an orchard near Havelock North.
Pritchard and O’Leary say it was one of the worst days in Hawke’s Bay Police history, as was the killing of fellow officer and Thompson-manhunt veteran Senior Constable Len Snee and shooting of two other officers and a civilian by cannabis-growing suspect Jan Molenaar in Chaucer Rd, Napier, on May 7, 2009.
Departing after more than 43 years’ service, which included leading the initial response in both cases, O’Leary said the shootings were carried out by “cowards”.
Constable Glenn McKibbin, shot dead by opportunist gunman Terence Thompson in Flaxmere on April 21, 1996. The 30th anniversary is on Tuesday.
The 2009 shooting came as O’Leary was recovering from burns and the trauma of rescues carried out by him, his son and wife at a fiery State Highway 1 crash, with multiple fatalities. The family encountered the crash while returning from a funeral in Auckland just 13 days earlier.
Normally based in Hastings, O’Leary recalled that on the day of the Molenaar shooting he was at a civil defence meeting in Napier. When told about it, he made his way to the scene to take control as shots from the gunman continued to rain down.The injured men were unable to be reached without significant risk to the lives of personnel.
The two days before the gunman was found dead in his house became known as the Napier Siege.
It was portrayed three years later in Siege, a television dramatisation in which O’Leary was played by actor Alistair Browning.
Inspector Mike O'Leary is nearing the end of a 43-year police career, in which he was at the forefront of police operations in some of the darkest days in Hawke's Bay police history.
“While most of my time was very positive, I experienced some lows and very tough moments,” O’Leary said after a recent career celebration of his career.
“Two were among the darkest moments in New Zealand Police history. Glenn and Len were killed by cowards.”
Despite all, O’Leary is about as Hawke’s Bay as it gets, having grown up in the region, played First XV rugby at Hastings Boys’ High School, and served 33 years of his police career in Hawke’s Bay.
He’d known McKibbin’s dad, who had also been a police officer, and as far back as school had played rugby against Snee, in matches between their schools.
They’d played together for Hawke’s Bay Police teams.
A product of the January 1983 intake, O’Leary was appointed inspector in 2006, but resisted the opportunity for promotion outside the district.
“I came back here in 1993, because it was home. I thought, what a bloody great place to be, to raise a family, and you can’t beat the weather.
“When I was a young recruit, the boss said this man is destined to go much higher in the police,” he said. “But I just love being with the troops.”
O’Leary has served parallel to the career of brother Dennis O’Leary, who is soon to mark 50 years as a firefighter in Hastings.
Both have been well known in masters athletics and, despite recent surgery, Mike O’Leary expects to compete in nine events at the biennial Australian Police and Emergency Services Games on the Gold Coast in Australia.
He has received several commendations for bravery and leadership on the job, including an inaugural award relating to the 2009 crash rescue.
He’s also been recognised for his service in master’s and police sports.
Doug Laing is a Hawke’s Bay Today reporter based in Napier, with 52 years in the news industry covering news and sports events and issues, including the shootings of the police officers in 1996 and 2009.
