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Police are investigating the scene where a man suspected of a double homicide was shot and killed by police after a car chase.
After believing her partner was having an affair, Anthony Fane killed her, the man she supposedly had the affair with and another man who was in the wrong place at the wrong time.
He then died himself in a hail of 49 bullets fired by police after a chase through the residential streets of Tauranga.
Police were justified in shooting Fane on February 13, 2020, according to a report by the Independent Police Conduct Authority.
On February 11, 2020, police began investigating a double homicide that they believed was related to escalating tensions between gangs and methamphetamine trafficking in Tauranga.
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But after Fane’s death, the police discovered his partner dead at the couple’s home.
Fane had told people that he had discovered evidence on his cell phone that led him to believe he was having an affair with one of the victims of the double homicide.
Police believe the other victim was in the wrong place at the wrong time.
They believe Fane killed his partner on the night of February 9, 2020, before driving with their two young children to their mother’s home in South Auckland.
He remained there until February 11, 2020, when he and another man allegedly drove back to Tauranga and committed the double murder.
They then traveled back to Auckland before Fane returned to Tauranga alone on February 13, 2020.
On the day he was shot, four officers from the Armed Criminal Brigade in two separate vehicles were deployed in a ‘reassuring patrol’ in response to the double homicide.
At 7.45 pm they found a vehicle, registered and driven by Fane.
The vehicle was not on the homicide-related vehicle list.
They followed Fane, who shot the officers five different times during the chase. However, the police did not respond because there were several cars and pedestrians in the area.
At one point, a police officer poked his head out of his car window and yelled at people to get away.
When Fane stopped, an officer in the car who had been chasing him fired a rifle through the windshield of his own police car, then leaned out of the window and fired more rounds.
Another officer got out of the police car and fired through Fane’s rear windshield, not stopping until he saw him fall to the side.
The two officers fired a total of 49 rounds at Fane before his vehicle began to roll into some bushes, where officers found Fane dead.
The IPCA ruled that the shooting was justified and found that the information provided by police intelligence to AOS and the staff in general was inadequate.
“The Authority found that AOS officers demonstrated a high level of professionalism in relation to this matter, and their concern about the risk to life at the time was clear.
“We accept that their response to the circumstances in shooting Mr. Fane was the only option available given the risk he posed to them, other police officers who may have encountered him, and the public.
“The intention of the officers was only to incapacitate Mr. Fane to eliminate the risk he posed.
“His death was a tragic, but foreseeable consequence,” said Authority President Judge Colin Doherty.
Bay of Plenty District Commander Superintendent Andy McGregor said that, as noted by the IPCA, the officers involved demonstrated a high level of professionalism regarding the matter.
“The officers faced 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 Fane shot officers on five separate occasions while driving through busy residential areas in Tauranga.
“I am confident that the officers involved took the only option available to them in the circumstances to avoid further damage,” he said.
