Eddie's fake gun brings him a death sentence

By Tony Wall

Eddie Leo entered a close-range shootout with police armed with nothing more than a hunk of plastic.

The Auckland father of two small girls pointed a fake Glock pistol at police and held on to it as bullets from the real thing - a police Glock 9mm - ripped into his body.

Police confirmed last night that the officer had his weapon trained on Edwin "Eddie" Leo and his three associates as they stumbled out of the vehicle they were driving.

They said police were outnumbered four to two, and taking out the gun was the right thing for the officer to do.

When 31-year-old Leo would not put his "gun" down, he was shot in the left forearm and then in the right upper arm. He still did not fall or lower the weapon, and was then shot in the centre of his chest.

The manager of the Waitakere police, Superintendent Alistair Beckett, revealed yesterday that police earlier sprayed pepper spray into Leo's face.

And he said police had warned for years that people brandishing replica firearms risked being shot.

"In this moment of truth, when confronted with the firearm, the officer shot him."

Police have investigated hundreds of incidents involving imitation firearms, including air guns, which have been used in armed holdups, fired out car windows or pointed at people.

A test 18 months ago asking police officers to distinguish a real gun from a number of replicas backed fears that imitations have become too realistic. Only three of 50 police picked the real gun.

Mr Beckett said police began chasing the stolen car Leo was driving north of Waimauku after reports that four men had driven from a service station and liquor store without paying.

A police patrol sent from Helensville passed the car and did a u-turn to pursue it.

The car pulled in to a farm driveway, and the police driver told the men to get out of the car. Words were exchanged, and Leo was sprayed with pepper spray.

He then drove the car at the officer, who suffered bruising to the back of his legs, and took off down State Highway 16, crashing into a fence as he turned into Bradly Rd.

The officer took a gun from a cabinet in the patrol car and trained it on the four men as they got out of the car about 4m away. Three lay on the ground as instructed, but Leo took out what appeared to be a gun and pointed it at the two officers.

Mr Beckett said Leo had convictions for a range of offences.

The officer who shot him was offered counselling, and the Helensville police station was closing for two days so staff could "collect their thoughts and reflect."