Napier Siege

I grew up in and spent many years living in or near Napier so it was a surreal experience to watch it being terrorized by one disturbed man last week. Three policemen went to a house on a routine drug bust but instead one ended up shot dead and the other two wounded along with a civilian who tried to wrestle the gun off the killer. The murdered policeman is someone I'd met a few times when I lived in a semi rural and semi criminal area near Taradale. Len Snee was a good cop who tried to help instead of just saying "move". He was the epitomy of the community policeman who cared about what happened on his patch.

For two days Len's body lay near the house in Carlyle Road. Even when the army came in with their armoured trucks they were still unable to remove his remains. Meanwhile another policeman's German Shepherd waited quietly in a van for two days, the usually vocal dog never barking despite the intermittent shooting throughout the days and nights of the siege.

It was strange to watch places I'd biked past flashed on the TV news. To hear of schools I'd attended in lock down for a couple of days, to see people unable to go back to their homes due to being within the range of the killer's rifle. When his identity became known then it was realised that we were in for a prolonged seige as this man had a complete arsenal of guns as well as bombs and night vision equipment. He was also known to grow cannabis and was extremely paranoid due to ongoing tension with the Mongrel Mob gang.

Finally on Saturday the police stormed the house to find the killer dead in his bedroom. His body still lies there now as his house is carefully combed for booby traps. It is difficult to comprehend that such a crazy incident could happen in sleepy Napier. It feels as if the city will be forever tainted by the memory.