The Police watchdog has found two AOS officers were not justified in their actions leading to the fatal shooting of a man in Kawerau
The Police watchdog has found two AOS officers were not justified in their actions leading to the fatal shooting of a man in Kawerau
13 May 2021
In February 2019, Astin Hooper robbed the Kawerau Credit Union.
An eventful police chase that included him tailing officers around a truck turning bay, ended with a standoff
As AOS officers approached Hooper in his vehicle, he fired one shot at them - and the officers fatally returned fire.
The IPCA found officers were justified to shoot in self-defence, but shouldn't have approached him ... and sought to de-escalate events by communicating with him.
They should also have got incident controller approval before acting.
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