The man who died in a Waitārere Beach incident, in which his wife and her two sons were critically injured by gunshot, is believed to have only suffered a stab wound, the Herald can reveal.
Initial police statements were that all four people involved were shot.
Evidence of the “provisional opinion” of the pathologist who did the post-mortem on 60-year-old Ben Timmins on January 16, 2026, has been seen by the Herald.
A stab wound to the chest is cited as the cause of death.
Emergency services arrived shortly after midnight on January 14 at the Waitārere Beach Rd property at which Timmins died.
Inspector Craig Sheridan has now confirmed to the Herald a scene examination and post-mortem have been completed.
“As a result, police now believe one person at the address received a wound consistent with being stabbed,” Sheridan said.
“The three people who received wounds consistent with being shot remain in hospital in a stable condition. They have asked for privacy at this time.”
Aside from Timmins, who died, there was a woman, 46, and two young men, aged 17 and 21, who were critically injured from gunshots. The woman was Timmins’ wife, and the young men her two sons from another relationship.
When questioned about the possibility of charges against the three survivors, Sheridan said: “Police continue to investigate the circumstances of the Waitārere Beach incident”.
A fifth person, understood to be Timmins’ 9-year-old daughter, was unharmed in the incident and made a 111 “non-speech emergency call” shortly after midnight on January 14.
An initial police statement, issued at 6.56am that same day, had included Timmins in those who had been shot.
“Responding officers were told that a firearm had been discharged at the address and when they arrived, four people were found with wounds that are consistent with being shot,” Manawatū area commander, Inspector Ross Grantham, said.
For several weeks after the shooting, police had been waiting to interview Timmins’ wife and her two sons by another partner.
The Herald understands this has now occurred.
Timmins’ sister Rachel O’Grady helped identify her brother for police and said she was able to identify him facially without being “distressed”.
Timmins was due in court on the day of his death, January 14, over two family harm-related incidents just days earlier on January 9.
O’Grady spent that last weekend with her brother working through court papers and options in Whanganui.
She told the Herald she understood a condition of his bail after his arrest was to not go to the Waitārere Beach Rd property at which the shooting eventually occurred.
Manawatū area commander Inspector Ross Grantham said police were called to the property about 7.15pm on January 13, after someone reported discovering what they believed to be a firearm on the property.
Police located and seized a dismantled firearm, firearms parts and ammunition. Nobody residing at the property was the holder of a firearms licence, Grantham said.
However, just five hours later, emergency services responded to a reported shooting at the property.
“The call we received shortly after midnight was what we call a ‘non-speech emergency call’ – that is, the caller called 111 but did not speak.
“However, we believe the call was made by the child at the address,” police said.
Tom Dillane is an Auckland-based journalist covering local government and crime as well as sports investigations. He joined the Herald in 2018 and is a duty editor and senior reporter.
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