Actions of Armed Offenders Squad officers leading up to fatal shooting of Astin Hooper unjustified says IPCA
12 May, 2021 10:04 PM
4 minutes to read
The scene on State Highway 30, near the Te Teko racecourse where a man died after being shot in a police shootout in 2019. Photo / File
The scene on State Highway 30, near the Te Teko racecourse where a man died after being shot in a police shootout in 2019. Photo / File
Rotorua Daily Post
The actions of two Armed Offenders Squad members leading up to the fatal shooting of a Kawerau man were unjustified, the Independent Police Conduct Authority has found.
The Independent Police Conduct Authority has found that, although two Armed Offenders Squad (AOS) officers were acting in self-defence when they fired at Astin Hooper immediately after he shot at them, their prior actions were not justified in the .
11 May 2021
The Independent Police Conduct Authority has found that the use of a Police dog to bite a young person (14 years old) following a pursuit was not justified in the circumstances.
On 8 October 2019, the young person was staying at his friend’s house in Cambridge. His friend decided to take his mother’s Volkswagen without her knowledge. At around 1.38am two officers, who had just attended a possible vehicle break-in, saw the young person driving the Volkswagen and thought he may have been involved. They also thought he may have been driving a stolen car as he did not match the registered owner’s description. They signalled the driver to stop and, when he did not, initiated a pursuit. The pursuit lasted for 18 minutes, reached speeds of approximately 150kph in a 100kph zone, and travelled approximately 30 kilometres.