A police district commander has personally apologised to a Taranaki hapu after a police officer dropped a loaded pistol on a Waitara marae.
In a letter to Otaraua hapu member Tom Hunt, Superintendent Mark Lammas said he regretted any stress caused.
Mr Hunt wrote a letter of complaint on behalf of the hapu last year after several police officers entered the marae grounds on August 3 without realising it was a marae.
One officer dropped a pistol as he leaped a fence in pursuit of robbery suspects, one of whom had a knife.
Mr Lammas said the officer had dropped the gun because a suitable holster was not available. More holsters had since been bought.
Mr Hunt said witnesses were shocked to see an armed policeman on the marae so soon after the police shooting of Steven Wallace in Waitara.
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