Napier shooting: At least a dozen people braved gunman's fire - police

Senior Constable Len Snee. Photo / Hawkes Bay Today

At least a dozen people were shot at or ignored the risk of being shot during bids to rescue victims of gunman Napier gunman Jan Molenaar.

Their heroism and rescue attempts were revealed today in a dramatic reading of a 2000-word summary of last week's Napier siege by investigation head Detective Superintendent Rod Drew.

But none of the "heroes" was prepared to be publicly named.

The only name included in the summary was that of the gunman's friend Len Holmwood, shot in the left thigh and pelvis as he tried to stop further shots being fired at Senior Constables Len Snee, Grant Diver and Bruce Miller, gunned down near the roadside as they retreated when Molenaar presented a rifle at them.

Mr Snee was killed, while the other three suffered serious injuries.

Other rescuers included a man and woman who got out of their cars to go to the aid of Mr Miller in a driveway near the gunman's home.

Among the officers Molenaar fired on were two policemen who used their bodies to shield the fallen Mr Miller, two who were trying to remove Mr Snee, whom they had confirmed was dead barely 20 minutes after the first shots were fired, and an ambulance officer also ignored the gunman to make his way to one of the stricken officers.

Mr Drew said the drama started when Molenaar arrived home from a walk to find the officers in the house for a cannabis search.

They had been admitted by his partner and found two plants growing in a spare room and 8-10 "one-ounce" bags of cannabis in a garage downstairs.

The partner, Delwyn Keefe, was later to comment to police regarding Mr Snee: "He was a nice guy who did most of the talking. He said we might as well have a coffee while we waited for Jan to come home."

Mr Drew opened the summary by explaining the anonymity of rescuers. "For now it is their desire that the focus remain on Len Snee and the wounded," he said.

"The story I am about to narrate is one of stark contrast - the cowardly and unprovoked violence of the gunman, and the courage and compassion of those who went to rescue the wounded."

Mr Drew said that in the first fusillade, Mr Snee was hit in the arm and torso and fell to the ground, Mr Diver was shot once in the left lower back and buttock, and Mr Miller was shot from behind through the right groin and left thigh and knocked to the ground.

As they crawled up the footpath, Molenaar walked onto the footpath and started firing at them, before Mr Holmwood was shot as he tried to stop him.

The gunman continued to fire so Mr Holmwood crawled a short way down hill and sheltered against a stone wall behind one of the two police vehicles, Mr Diver crawled to a house two doors from Molenaar and rang the police station, and Mr Miller collapsed on a driveway next door.

The first help came from the man and woman who drove separately down the hill to the injured Mr Miller, and the man rang police at 9.37am.

As the man and woman went onto Chaucer Road to establish the street number, Molenaar fired at least two shots, narrowly missing them, and another through the women's car as she sheltered behind the vehicle.

Six armed officers, including an Auckland senior sergeant in Napier for a job interview, were soon at the intersection of Guys Hill and Chaucer roads, and the other heroic acts took place, including officers being fired on as they evacuated the man and woman.

A funeral for Mr Snee took place on Wednesday, while hundreds of people farewelled his killer today.

- NZPA