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The fiancee of slain bystander Halatau Naitoko has lashed out at police for not being "careful" - leaving her to a life alone and their daughter without a father.
Halatau's family and fiancee Stephanie Cook spoke yesterday of their anger over the police pursuit that ended with the
death of the innocent 17-year-old.
Police admitted yesterday afternoon that one of two officers was responsible for the bullet that killed Halatau after he became caught up in the end of an hour-long police pursuit.
Cook, 16, told the Herald on Sunday of the pain she has only begun to feel - losing "her first love" just weeks before they were to be married on Valentine's Day.
She also spoke of the sad and lonely goodbye she and the couple's two-year-old daughter Hemo shared with Halatau, as he lay dead awaiting autopsy.
"I have told her daddy is asleep. We took her to see her dad last night. I think she has a fair idea what has happened because he didn't come home from work yesterday."
Asked if Halatau looked at peace, she said: "No. Who is at peace when they get shot?"
Before they left the morgue, Cook said she told Halatau: "I love you, I always will." Little Hemo added her voice, saying: "I love you Daddy."
Yesterday, Cook was seeking comfort from her parents Dorothy Cook and Toa Tusa. Halatau's death completed a double tragedy after she lost a baby during pregnancy over Christmas.
"He was my world. I miss him not coming home, doing normal things couples do. I miss him not being in my bed. It doesn't feel real. I still hope that he might walk in the door but I know it's not going to happen."
Cook says she found out Halatau had been killed when his parents Kepueli Teputepu and Ivoni Fuimaono contacted her, asking if she could bring a recent photo for police to identify his body.
She said she blamed the police and wanted an apology. "I am so angry. They should have been more careful. It is going to take more than apology. They have taken away my daughter's father - she is never going to know him. She will never know what a wonderful person he was."
If given the opportunity, she wanted the officer who fired to fatal shot to tell her how they would feel "if their partner or their father was taken away by mistake". "I am so angry I hope they get what's coming to them."
The couple planned to marry before Hemo's second birthday, and were working towards a Valentine's Day wedding. She was going to wear her mother's wedding dress, and although Halatau wanted to buy her a ring she told him not to "because we needed the money".
Halatau's dad Kepu Tepu Tepu also said he was angry with police - and held them responsible for his son's death.
"It is just unprofessional. It was a shootout on a busy motorway - they got the wrong guy and they didn't protect the public."
Tepu Tepu went to the morgue with Halatau's brothers and sisters to see his son's body.
"As his father it was the hardest thing for me to do. No parent wants to see their child killed like that. He was only a boy. It's like he was cheated ... to go out like that an innocent man. I want justice. (The police) made a bad move ... a bad mistake.
"I am angry he has lost his life for no reason at all. They could have used other methods to get to the guy."
Halatau's mum Ivoni Fuimaono is pregnant, with the boy due tomorrow. The family planned to name him "Hala", after his brother.
She said she wanted to meet the officers involved - and said she would try to forgive them.
"What has happened should not have happened but he is with God now to look after him."
When Superintendent George Fraser visited the family home yesterday afternoon to tell the family police had killed Halatau, she asked to meet the officer responsible.
"I am not angry with him I just want look at the face of the man who shot my son."
She also wanted to meet the paramedics who tried to save his life.
"I just want to know if Halatau called them for help.
"I am not (angry) but some of my family are very angry. They heard the 'police were doing their job' but what my family need to know is why they shot at Halatau.
"My family were really upset by that comment that the police were only doing their job. They had a time when the offender ran from his car across the barrier to the other truck and he went past Hala's vehicle - why didn't they shoot him then?"
Stephanie Cook's parents Toa Tusa and Dorothy Cook also questioned police actions. Dorothy Cook said police did not act responsibly.
"It was all happening out in the public, on a motorway.
"Everyone's safety was at risk."
Halatau's body will be released to the family tomorrow.