Whitianga rest home deaths and Matamata police shooting: the big stories of February 2024

Scene of fatal police shooting in Matamata. Photo / Andrew Warner

As the year draws to a close, Waikato Herald is taking stock of 2024. What moved readers most? As part of a 12-day series, reporter Danielle Zollickhofer looks at the top stories each month. Welcome to day 2: February.

Nationally, February 2024 was the month Warner Bros. Discovery released their proposal to shut down Newshub, affecting up to 300 staff.

A state of emergency was declared in Christchurch and Selwyn, as firefighters battled to control a bushfire in Port Hills, Grant Robertson announced his retirement from politics to take up the position of vice-chancellor of the University of Otago and Green MP Efeso Collins died after collapsing during the ChildFund Water Run in Auckland.

Also, petrol stations experienced nationwide self-service pump outages due to a software problem caused by the leap year.

However, in Waikato, a Whitianga rest home made headlines when six residents died after a third of residents and staff were infected with Influenza A over a 12-day period.

Also, police fatally shot a man in Matamata after he presented a firearm, fled from officers and entered a stranger’s home where he threatened a parent and child.

He was later named as Christopher Taukiri, of Hauraki, and it was revealed he allegedly crossed the centreline of a road and killed his passenger and the driver of another car in August 2023.

Other big stories in the region were the opening of the Maersk coldstore facility at Hamilton’s Ruakura Superhub and a Hamilton mother appealing to the public for more understanding for her special needs son.

Debbie Bennett’s adult son Shannon Wilson has a brain condition called pachygyria which causes big mood swings — and Shannon could be screaming to get his way which caused significant upset among their neighbours.

39-year-old Hamilton local, Shannon Wilson, suffers from a rare brain condition called Pachygyria. Photo / Malisha Kumar

Since Bennett and Wilson moved to Hamilton in 2020, there have been several complaints to police and online remarks, some of which urge her to take extreme measures — including violence — to curb the yelling.

Fed up with endless apologies, Bennett said she tried educating people about her son’s condition.

Danielle Zollickhofer is a multimedia journalist based in Hamilton. She joined NZME in 2021 and is writing for the Waikato Herald.

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