Thread: Kawerau siege - Stuff court report

Originally Posted by timattalon

I am not so sure about that. There is mention of try to use cover fire. So they were shooting through the wall towards the offender but not AT the offender in order to get the offender to "duck" so they could withdraw the wounded without further injury. In fact I would go as far to say that in the moment, police are human. yes they have more training but like any person, a split second decision is not usually one that should be over analysed by people who were not there and not making those instant decisions in combat. As mentioned earlier, the fact that the offender is alive is evidence of training and restraint. How much chance would that offender have had of survival if this had occurred somewhere like Texas? Shoot a cop there and see how long you last....17 rounds fired in that situation hell, anyone I know would have gone full mag reloaded and tried another full mag....

If I was that offender, I would be extremely grateful to be alive right now.....a jail cell has to be better than a coffin....

I think there lies a problem in the very fact that our police don't carry or use firearms often and when they do get them out they are closely scrutinised by joe public. There does seem to be questions in the mind of the average person as to their level of training and ability to use a firearm in a professional manner, it seems that this is just the latest in a long line of incidents. Innocent bystanders shot, multiple rounds fired (without discretion?) at a vehicle in Christchurch recently (only one of them actually hitting the perpetrator), multiple shots used to bring down a rogue cow in a residential area etc, all this adds up to a public that is possibly concerened, or at the very least very interested in each case of a firearm being used by police.