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Jerrim Marshall Toms was shot by police 12 times, two bullets entering his chest at close range - each one fatal on their own, an inquest into his death has heard.
The 29-year-old died in the early hours of March 31, 2018 on an Auckland highway after a high-speed policepursuit where his car was spiked and stopped three times.
He had a machete and threatened police officers with it, striking a police car window at least once.
The first shot hit Toms in the chest at close range - the officer just over 1m away from him, the inquest heard.
More shots were fired before he turned and ran, then collapsed.
Four years after his death, Coroner Debra Bell opened the inquest on Friday morning at the Auckland District Court with an apology to his family for the delay.
“It is not for me to find fault,” she said, calling it a fact-finding exercise that the family would no doubt find difficult and fraught with emotions “flooding back”.
Superintendent Tusha Penny speaks to media hours after the death of Jerrim Toms north of Auckland. Photo / Jason Oxenham
Toms’ daughter, now 4, was born a few days after his death, she said.
The incident on March 31 unfolded after Toms’ mother Joan called mental health services for help at 2.25am - he was unwell and had threatened to burn her house down, Coroner Bell said in her opening summary of the case.
Joan was advised to call police for a welfare check, which she did, telling police he was “off the wall” and had a long knife strapped to his hip.
She had fled to her daughter’s house for safety and both Toms’ mother and sister suspected he was on methamphetamine.
CCTV footage showed he went to a petrol station where he threatened to kill the attendant, before driving away on State Highway 1 at high speed.
The machete used by Jerrim Toms on the night he fatally confronted police on SH1. Photo / IPCA
A police officer stopped to help him at one point but reversed away after Toms approached him waving his machete.
At one point, Toms got out of his car and smashed his own headlights before driving off again.
About 4am, two police officers were tailing him when Toms’ car was spiked and stopped a third time.
He got out of his car with his machete and advanced towards the officers, A and B, whose identities are protected.
Officer A, standing beside the open driver’s door of the police vehicle, asked Toms to stop and drop his weapon, but Toms kept advancing.
When he was just over a metre away, Officer A opened fire at Toms’ chest.
Officer B also fired and together, the two police officers fired 12 shots in total. Toms ran about 45m before collapsing.
The officers performed first aid and called an ambulance, but Toms died at the scene.
Coroner Bell said the inquest is looking into what happened before and during the police pursuit that led to the shooting, how to avoid such deaths in the future, and also Toms’ mental health treatment and support before he died.
He had a history of mental illness with depression, anxiety, and suicidal thoughts, and was discharged from an Auckland mental health unit less than a month before he was shot, the inquest heard.
A medical professional who saw Toms on March 15 - just over two weeks before his death - said he presented well as a “bright, honest, kind, and gentle man” who did not hide his cannabis use, but was excited about life and the impending birth of his daughter.
“He talked about his dreams of starting a Harley-Davidson importing business ... about seeing his daughter,” said the professional, whose name is protected.
He told the inquest he asked Toms to see him again one month later, but Toms did not book in and told the social worker he would call if needed.
Asked if he could have done more for Toms, the medical professional said no - he had asked himself the same question many times over the past four and half years.
“Doctors are not gods, we can’t read people’s minds,” he said when asked if he could tell from the session that Toms was using meth, or taking his medication.
“Every patient should be given the chance to be trusted,” he said, although there are no guarantees they will take their medications and abstain from drugs.
“In hindsight, the confidence he instilled ... his own belief he’ll stay well and not take drugs - did not sustain his commitment to abstain,” he said.
The inquest continues with police expected to give evidence on Monday.
