Waitara Shooting - Wallace Family - Police & Maori - Gun Raid - Gas Death?
WAITARA SHOOTING: The confrontation that sparked claims of murder and retribution. Police said Mr Wallace continued to
advance on the police officer with a baseball bat after the officer had fired a warning shot. The officer then shot him
four times with the glock pistol. Mr Wallace had also approached the patrol car and attacked it smashing the car’s
windows Police are not saying how much time elapsed between the warning shot and the final fatal four shots. A dog
handler and pepper spray were not used because they had “limitations.” Witnesses have claimed police left Mr Walllace
unattended for 20 minutes while he lay dying.
WALLACE FAMILY: The Wallace family met on the Owai Marae three hours with a witness who believed that Mr Wallace should
not have been shot. Horse manure was dumped on the doorstep of the police station this morning as tensions remained
high.
POLICE & MAORI: The Prime Minister has weighed into the shooting saying police attitudes towards Maori almost certainly had some
bearing on the shooting. She has been criticised by the Police Association, the Union for officers. The Opposition
agrees. Miss Clark says a fuller inquiry may be needed besides the internal police inquiry.
GUN RAID: Police and armed defenders raided a home in Porirua this morning in a move related to the theft of 200 guns
many of them antiques from a gun collector’s house two weeks ago. They seized only one gun.
GAS DEATH?: An Austrian man is claiming that hydrogen sulfide levels in a Rotorua motel may have killed his elderly
mother visiting New Zealand who died of a heart attack. Police have agreed the gas may have been responsible but will
not comment further until the Coroner’s hearing in July.