Police shooting in a domestic incident in the Waikato justified: IPCA report

A 2014 police shooting in the Waikato has been found to be justified by the Independent Police Conduct Authority. Photo/File

Police officers were justified in shooting a man following a domestic incident in the Waikato, a report has found.

The Independent Police Conduct Authority's (IPCA) report today said the incident in October 2014 was justified.

The man survived the shooting but suffered several serious injuries as a result.

Police said it a statement they acknowledged the findings.

"The police staff in this incident were confronted with a very difficult situation," said acting Waikato Police District Commander Superintendent Greg Nicholls.

"The man was directed to step out of the car and put his hands in the air.

"Instead, he got out and pointed a rifle towards the two officers and they feared they were going to be shot.

"The officers did not want to shoot the man and other tactical options were considered, but given the risk he posed, they were left with no other option."

Police also note that the authority said that police provided all reasonable medical assistance to the man after he was shot.

The incident happened at 9.49pm on October 21, 2014, the man's partner called police and told them that the man had held a sawn-off shotgun to her head and threatened to shoot her, the report said.

Local officers were immediately dispatched to Kerepehi and the Waikato Armed Offenders Squad (AOS) and Police Negotiation Team (PNT) were deployed.

During the next hour, police maintained contact with the partner who told them that the man had a bulletproof vest and would shoot officers if he saw them.

The man also had a history of assaulting police, drug use, carrying a knife, and unlawfully carrying firearms.

About 10.43pm, the partner advised police that she and the man were about to drive to Ngatea and that the man was carrying a shotgun and a rifle. As AOS and PNT had not yet arrived, local officers headed in that direction with the intention of stopping the man before he reached Ngatea.

On the way to Ngatea, the man drove over road spikes that had been deployed on Kerepehi Town Road. Shortly after, two armed officers in a police car signalled him to stop.

The man pulled over and the police car stopped a short distance away. Two armed officers got out and commanded the man to put his hands in the air, but instead he stepped out of his car and pointed a rifle towards them.

Fearing that they were going to be shot at, the two officers fired a total of seven shots at the man, incapacitating him.

"The two officers who fired shots at the man were justified in doing so because he posed a very real threat of death or serious bodily harm to them and other nearby officers", said authority chairman, Judge Sir David Carruthers.

When the man pointed his rifle at the officers, other tactical options were not viable or appropriate, the report said.

"Police responded appropriately to this incident as it developed and provided all reasonable assistance to the man after he was shot," said Carruthers.

The report was completed in October 2015, but its public release was delayed until after the conclusion of court proceedings in March.