Fatal police shooting: officers justified in shooting murder suspect 49 times

Police were justified in fatally shooting a man after he fired multiple shots at officers during a chase in a densely populated area in Tauranga, the Independent Authority for Police Conduct found.

On February 11, 2020, Anthony Fane and his brother were suspects in a double homicide at Omanawa Falls in Tauranga, the IPCA said.

Fane is also believed to have killed his partner on February 9, 2020.

On February 13, four officers from the Armed Criminal Squad (AOS) in two separate vehicles were deployed on a “quiet patrol” in response to the double homicide.

At around 7.45pm they came across a Ford Falcon, registered and driven by Fane.

This vehicle was not included in the list of vehicles of interest related to the homicides that had been reported to the officers.

A manhunt began during which Fane shot AOS officers while driving through busy residential areas in Tauranga, the IPCA said.

At one point he stopped right in front of a retirement home, got out of the Falcon, and shot directly at the officers in their cars.

They did not respond to the fire at this time.

The chase ended on State Highway 2, where Fane stopped. At this point, the officers believed that Fane would get out of the car and shoot them again.

Two of the officers fired a total of 49 rounds at Fane before the Falcon began to roll into some bushes, where the officers found Fane dead.

The IPCA found that the officers were justified in shooting Fane under sections 39 and 48 of the Crimes Act of 1961. In addition, the Authority found that the information provided by police intelligence to AOS and the staff in general, was inadequate.

Police said in a statement today that they recognized the IPCA report.

“As noted by the IPCA, the officers involved demonstrated a high level of professionalism regarding this matter,” said Bay of Plenty District Commanding Officer Andy McGregor.

“The officers were faced with an offender who posed a significant risk, both to the officers themselves and to the general public.

“It was very fortunate that no one was seriously injured or killed when Mr. Fane shot officers on five separate occasions while driving through busy residential areas in Tauranga.

“I am confident that the officers involved made the only option available to them in the circumstances to avoid further damage,” McGregor said.