A memorial to Kaoss Price at the spot on State Highway 3 where he attempted to escape police. Photo: NZME / Mike Scott
The Independent Police Conduct Authority has found the officer used excessive force during the fatal shooting of Kaoss Price it doesn't recommend he be charged or an employment process take place.
Now the whānau of the Taranaki man shot and killed by police in 2022 are considering their legal options after the IPCA's ruling.
Kaoss Price, who was a patched Nomad gang member and had a warrant out for his arrest, was 22 when he died.
His mother Jules Hanna said his three children, younger sister and brother, and wider whānau were still grieving his loss.
"It's still hard, every day."
Hanna said family had been waiting and hoping for justice for Price and while they welcomed the IPCA's conclusion that his killing was unjustified, they did not understand why there were no consequences for Officer A, who pulled the trigger.
Price's grandmother, Margaret Kennard, said it was not good enough.
"We're supposed to trust the police to uphold and enforce the law. They are not above it. We give them guns. They are killing our kids. The police investigated themselves and found they did nothing wrong. Now the IPCA says killing Kaoss was unjustified.
"So what am I supposed to think? IPCA said police weren't justified in killing my boy, but nobody is being held accountable for gunning down an unarmed 22-year-old? Kaoss is dead. If it had been anybody else, not from the police, who killed him, they'd be in court for this. Why are the police allowed to kill?
"Kaoss wasn't an angel but he didn't deserve to die like this. The police need to bloody well do something."
Lawyers Christopher Stevenson KC and Julia Spelman, who were acting for Kaoss' whānau, believed this was only the second time the IPCA had found a fatal police shooting to be unjustified and both times it had recommended no further action be taken.
The family were taking time to process the full report and consider their legal options, the lawyers said.
Officer should face charges - friend
A family friend of Kaoss Price says the officer who fired the fatal shot should face criminal charges.
Stacey O'Carroll, whose nephews were close friends of Price, said: "Yes he should be charged because he's been found that it [his conduct] was excessive and he should be charged for it because it's all part of being lawful, if you know what I mean, and then it will come down to what the law says about what he's done."
O'Carroll said the police had a tough job but indications at the time were always that they had over-reacted.
"You know that was way excessive what the police done [sic]. They tasered him, they set the dog on him and then they shot him, you know, to me that seems a bit excessive.
"All right, he's trying to car-jack someone's car, but if you're going to shoot someone the guy should have had a gun or some kind of weapon that could be used to kill another person."
The 22-year-old patched Nomad gang member was unarmed.
O'Carroll was a life-long friend of Allan Rowe, who was shot and killed in Waitara after pointing a firearm at police following a domestic incident.
The IPCA report said Price, who had a warrant out for his arrest, had been travelling in convoy with a friend who had been pulled over by police on State Highway 3 between New Plymouth and Waitara.
He doubled back and rammed a police dog van, disabling his vehicle, and attempted to hijack a member of the public's vehicle.
About three and half minutes elapsed from the time police signalled to Price's associate to stop and him being shot and killed.
"During this event, an officer fired their pistol at Mr Price a total of six times: as Mr Price sideswiped the dog van; as he ran from his car; and as he was attempting to hijack a motorist's car. Mr Price was also tasered and bitten by a police dog," the report said.
"We found that the fatal shot was excessive force on the balance of probabilities, but we do not recommend police lay criminal charges or commence an employment process against the officer."
A post-mortem examination of Price's body found one bullet entry hole on the right side of his chest. The bullet exited out of the back of his left shoulder. This was the cause of death.
The IPCA report found the officers identified as Officer A and Officer B were justified in arming themselves and Officer A was justified in firing the five other shots to defend themselves, Officer B and members of the public.
In his account of the struggle between Price and the driver of a Hyundai vehicle, Officer A said he thought the level of danger to the driver and passenger was "at the most high level" and he was worried the vehicle would be used as a "weapon" against himself and Officer B.
He also thought Price was armed.
"I sighted him make a quick sudden movement down to his right, which was out of my view. I now put his threat level at death or [serious injury] just towards me, and with him not listening to clear instructions, I feared he was about to use a weapon to inflict serious harm to me."
After ruling out non-lethal options for disabling Price, "Officer A fired at Mr Price's chest, from a distance of approximately three metres and at an angle of 45 degrees to the driver's door," the report said.
The report found Officer A used excessive force on the balance of probabilities. In other words, its authors did not think, on the civil standard of proof, that Officer A could rely on Section 48 of the Crimes Act, which covered self-defence and defence of others, to justify their actions.
"That said, we do not consider that the evidence is sufficiently compelling to establish beyond reasonable doubt that Officer A could not rely on section 48 to justify their decision to shoot Mr Price.
"In short, in our view, there is no reasonable prospect of convicting Officer A of culpable homicide, and we do not recommend police lay any charges."
Ngarewa-Packer upset with police handling of shooting
Debbie Ngarewa-Packer Photo: RNZ / Cole Eastham-Farrelly
Te Pāti Māori co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer - who supported Price's family after the shooting - said accounts at the time always indicated police had over-reacted.
"He was unarmed, he had already been wounded and they didn't need to continue the pursuing and the final shot."
Ngarewa-Packer was upset at the police handling of the whole incident.
"You've got to remember the context that there had been three media standups by the police while Kaoss still lay dead on the road and that was disturbing because there was more focus on getting the story out vilifying this young man than there was on getting accountability."
She said that was particularly concerning in Taranaki where five young men had been shot dead since the turn of the century.
Ngarewa-Packer said the police officer concerned should be held accountable or the IPCA report was meaningless.
"Absolutely, absolutely. We need to make sure the police are accountable in every way possible. Anything that comes out from the IPCA says there was excessive force we need to investigate that and they should be held accountable."
'Split second decisions'
Dion Bennett Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
Police have acknowledged the findings.
Central District Commander Superintendent Dion Bennett said the staff involved took swift action to keep themselves and the public safe.
"They had to make split-second decisions under extreme stress, and I'm confident they acted with professionalism, in the best interests of public safety.
"No officer wants to use lethal force, and our thoughts remain with the Price family as they too process these findings."
Police acknowledged too that the officers failed to advise police communications or their supervisor that they were armed, as police policy required.
A previous investigation by police found officers were justified in shooting Price.
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