In the early evening on an Auckland street where children had been playing and road workers were nearby, a 501 deportee stood in his bedroom shouting at voices no one else could hear, a sawn-off shotgun in his hand.
Before long, Tangaru-Noere Turia had pointed the weapon out of his window and fired a shot into the living room of the house next door.
The gunshot shattered glass and punctured a television inside the home, sending those inside scrambling and prompting a 111 call that would escalate into an armed and fatal police response.
Turia, a 34-year-old father of three, described by whānau as a “loving, caring, humble person”, was shot three times by an Armed Offenders Squad (AOS) member within seconds of exiting his home on February 25, 2021.
He died about two hours later in Middlemore Hospital.
While the Independent Police Conduct Authority (IPCA) later ruled the shooting was unjustified, a coroner has now found Turia posed a “very real” and high-risk threat, and less-than-lethal options were not available.
Today, Coroner Erin Woolley released lengthy findings into the death of Turia, which considered his behaviour and mental health on the day of and leading up to the incident.
It also examined the police response, policy and tactics, the management of Turia’s deportation to New Zealand, and his mental health history and care oversight.
According to the findings, Turia fired the shot about 5.45pm out of his bedroom window on Avis Ave, Papatoetoe.
By 6pm, police had arrived and were in position and the Eagle helicopter was flying overhead.
Officers watched as Turia, known as Noere, moved erratically inside, shouting, swearing and loading the firearm.
Attempts by the police negotiation team to reach him by phone failed and a loudspeaker was set up outside, calling for him to come out unarmed.
The use of the speaker further aggravated Turia, who reacted by yelling more loudly and pointing the shotgun out a window in its direction.
Coroner Woolley found police could have better considered Turia’s mental health before using the loudspeaker.
Soon after, Turia came out of the front door holding the weapon and walked towards the speaker.
The AOS member, positioned at the end of the driveway, told Turia to put his weapon down.
About one second after the warning, the officer, referred to as Officer A in the findings, fired three shots, hitting Turia’s abdomen and thighs.
After the shooting, the IPCA investigated the incident and found the initial police response was appropriate and well managed.
But it also found the shooting was unjustified, raising concerns about the short time between the officer’s warning and the shots fired.
The IPCA’s April 2023 report followed a police investigation into the incident, after which no charges were laid.
This was because police could not rule out the officer had acted in defence of himself or others, and a conviction was unlikely.
Coroner Woolley then held an inquest into Turia’s death in September last year.
Her findings emphasised her role was to independently examine the circumstances of the shooting, assess the circumstances leading to Turia’s death, and identify any systemic issues that may help prevent similar deaths in future.
It was not her job to cast blame or to determine whether a person was legally responsible, she said.
Coroner Woolley found that when Turia emerged from the house carrying the shotgun, he posed a real and immediate risk of serious harm or death, and that the officer was confronted with a fast-moving situation in which there was little time to respond.
“Noere had in his possession a sawn-off shotgun, which is an extremely powerful weapon,” she wrote.
“His behaviour over the course of the previous two to three hours had been unpredictable and irrational, and he could easily fire the shotgun in a fraction of a second.”
She found it was “entirely plausible” officers could have been hit if he fired in their direction, and said it was “highly relevant” that Turia had fired a shot earlier that afternoon for no reason and loaded the weapon again before leaving the house.
“These were both factors known to Officer A and indicate a man who is both capable of firing the weapon and preparing to do so again.”
The coroner found that “less than lethal options were not available or practical”.
“[Officer A] did not have a 40mm sponge round available to him and it was not an option to deploy the police dog against an armed offender.
“Given none of these options were available, the only effective tactical option left available to him against an armed offender was his rifle.”
She found the officer did not have a predetermined intention to shoot Turia, pointing to his calling for him to drop his weapon, and that while the time the officer gave him to comply was minimal, it was acceptable.
The officer had said in his inquest evidence that he gave Turia “plenty of time to drop the firearm”.
Coroner Woolley found it difficult to accept that one second, based on her assessment of the footage, was “plenty of time”, but accepted it needed to be balanced against the high risk and danger to the life and safety of others.
She did not disagree with Turia’s whānau that one second was a short period to expect a response, given his alcohol and drug-affected state, but described it as “the minimum amount of time that was appropriate to allow in the circumstances”.
The findings also identified gaps and missed opportunities in Turia’s mental health care, including a decision to discharge him from specialist services shortly after his release from prison custody.
Turia had spent most of his life in Australia, where he accumulated a lengthy criminal history from his teenage years, including more than 40 convictions for offences ranging from theft to violence.
In 2017, he was deported from Australia as a 501, leaving behind his three children.
The coroner found his deportation had left him isolated and struggling to adjust to life in New Zealand.
Turia also had a diagnosis of schizophrenia and a long history of drug addiction, including methamphetamine use, and had experienced repeated episodes of psychosis, often marked by paranoia and hearing voices.
While he responded well to medication at times, he struggled to take it consistently, and his symptoms were known to worsen during periods of substance use.
In 2020, after a period of escalating offending in New Zealand, Turia was charged with aggravated robbery and burglary and spent time in custody before being released on electronically monitored bail in December.
After his release, he was referred to community mental health services and seen twice by a triage team before being discharged back to his GP.
The decision was based largely on how he presented at the time, without full consideration of his history of psychosis, substance abuse, and previous risk of violence when unwell, Coroner Woolley found.
She described the decision-making as “perplexing”, noting there was no evidence Turia was actively engaged with addiction or mental health services.
The coroner found no single service had overarching responsibility for his care, highlighting a lack of co-ordination between the services.
As a result, there was no monitoring of his medication or mental state, and no opportunity to detect the relapse in psychotic symptoms that developed in the weeks before the shooting.
The findings also noted Turia had previously felt “bounced” between services.
The coroner found some form of follow-up may have assisted Turia and reduced the chances of his death.
She recommended that people in similar circumstances receive at least three months of mental health follow-up after release from custody.
Ultimately, her findings pointed to the fast-moving police response and gaps in Turia’s mental health care, and how earlier intervention may have prevented the fatal outcome.
Coroner Woolley concluded by acknowledging Turia’s whānau, especially his mother Moana Taverio, their grief and their wait for closure.
“I wish to also acknowledge Moana’s ongoing care and dedicated support for her son, which included travelling to New Zealand to meet him at the airport when he was deported from Australia, something the Corrections staff said they seldom witnessed,” the coroner said.
“This support was also evident throughout the inquest, not only from Moana but Noere’s father, sisters and son.”
The coroner said Turia was a loved son, brother, father and friend.
“In Moana’s words, Noere was ‘more than the circumstances of this case. He was a loving, caring, humble person, and a unique soul who touched the lives of many’.”
Tara Shaskey is an assistant editor and reporter for the Open Justice team. She joined NZME in 2022 and has worked as a journalist since 2014.