'It happened so fast' father of child shot dead in driveway tells detective

Graphic content warning: Some readers may find this story disturbing

A father whose 2-year-old daughter was shot in the head told a detective he didn't know the gun was loaded and uttered to a paramedic, "I don't deserve any sympathy".

Amokura Daniels-Sanft was shot on June 2 last year - she had been playing in the driveway of her family home in South Auckland.

Her father, Gustav Otto Sanft, 26, is on trial for her manslaughter and has pleaded guilty to unlawful possession of a pistol.

The High Court at Auckland was played a video of Sanft's interview with arresting officer, Detective James Ralph.

"We need to know what happened," Ralph said.

Sanft offered no response, and was continually wailing.

"She's gone," the father cried.

"I need you to tell me what happened, Gustav," Ralph said. "How did this happen?"

Through tears, Sanft said, "It happened so fast".

"What happened Gustav?" Ralph replied.

"I had a gun I was swaying it around, I didn't know it was loaded.

"It all happened so fast ... I don't know what to think, I don't know what to say ... My Amo, my Amo."

Gustav Sanft after an earlier High Court appearance in relation to the death of his daughter. Photo/Doug Sherring

Ralph also made some notes from his interactions with Sanft.

His notes read that Sanft had told him "he had his finger on the trigger and was [swinging the gun] around but not aiming it".

Ralph also wrote that Sanft said he "did not know it was loaded" and had not checked the firearm before handling it.

The detective also recorded that Sanft mentioned the weapon was left with him by a friend who was now in prison.

Under cross-examination by defence counsel Phil Hamlin, Ralph said his notes were not the exact words Sanft used but were an "indication".

Ralph had also noted Sanft said he had tried to fire the gun in the past.

"I tried to fire the gun previously, it did not work," the detective's notes read.

Earlier, ambulance officers Christine Watts, Shayna Bennison and Hayley Carter told the court of the "chaotic" scenario they witnessed.

Watts, an intensive care paramedic and the senior officer at scene, said she saw Sanft "pacing up and down, holding the child".

"We all thought it was a child that had been run over by a car in the driveway, but it didn't really add up."

She asked what had happened, before she was alerted to body tissue strewn across the driveway.

Sanft's defence counsel argues this sawn-off shotgun fired accidentally, killing the 2-year-old. Photo / NZ Herald

The sawn-off shotgun had been modified and was tested by police after the incident. Photo / NZ Herald​

Bennison, an emergency medical technician, said the situation was "quite chaotic" and she was charged with looking after Sanft. All she got out of him was howling.

"I asked him if he wanted a hug ... 'Would you like a hug?' 'Cause I didn't know what else to do."

She said Sanft replied, "I don't deserve your sympathy."

Bennison left the back of the ambulance to aid Amokura's mum, Julia Daniels, who had collapsed in anguish.

The Herald can also publish photos of the 1.98kg, 450mm long shotgun, which will be produced as a Crown exhibit in the trial with evidence expected from an armourer about the condition of the weapon.

The gun, a Norinco JW87 12-gauge single-barrel shotgun, was loaded with one Winchester buckshot round before Amokura was shot.

After her death the firearm was seized, examined and tested by police.

An armourer fired 12 test shots and on four of the shots the gun failed to fire when the trigger was pressed "gently", the Crown has said.

However, Hamlin argues the gun fired accidentally on June 2 last year.

Sanft is on trial before a jury and Justice Geoffrey Venning.

The scene on Favona Rd, Mangere after the shooting. Photo/Jason Oxenham