Siege: Gunman's body removed

Mum apologises for 'absolute nightmare'

Napier gunman Jan Molenaar's body was removed from his house this afternoon as police announced the setting up of a trust fund for the family of the officer he killed.

The police cordon of the area surrounding Molenaar's Chaucer Road house has been lifted and residents are now allowed to return to their homes. The cordon around the house itself remains in place.

Senior Constable Len Snee was shot dead on Thursday morning during what was supposed to be a routine drug bust at Molenaar's house, on Napier Hill.

Molennar also shot Senior Constables Bruce Miller and Grant Diver, and civilian Leonard Holmwood. Mr Miller and Mr Holmwood remained in a critical condition in Hawke's Bay Hospital this afternoon, while Mr Diver was recovering in a general ward.

The shootings began a 50-hour siege in which police and the Molenaar exchanged intermittent fire until Molenaar's dead body was discovered inside his home shortly before midday on Saturday.

'SORRY NAPIER,' mother says

Molenaar's mother Anna has this evening apologised to Napier residents who had been unable to access or leave their homes during her son's hold-up. On Friday she also aplogised to Mr Snee's family and the other victims.

"We really felt for you all, our family did. During this absolute nightmare," she told TV1's Close Up.

"I just want to thank you all so very much and I'm very sorry."

She said she was not surprised at the outcome, which she had expected. Police had visited Ms Molennar to deliver the news about her son's death.

"They just came and said he'd gone, we'd already heard it on the radio."

She had been unable to speak to her son before he died as the police operation had not allowed for it, but support from friends and family had been a huge help, she said.

"A lot of people rang from Australia, England, Tasmania, just to say how much they loved him.

"He wasn't really a loner."

Molennar's brother Pieter described his brother as "an alright guy". "He just snapped on the day. It wasn't his day."

Five police officers removed Molenaar's body from the house today, wheeling it up the street on a trolley and putting it in a hearse.

Chalk circles cover the road and neighbouring properties show markings from where gunfire was unleased during the siege.

There is a white ute crashed into the fence in front of Molenaar's home. Inside the house wind chimes are hanging and one whole window is covered by an American flag.

The body is to be taken to Wellington where a post mortem will be carried out tomorrow to determine how he died.

Superintendent Rod Drew, the officer in charge of the investigations into the shootings, said Molenaar had at least 18 firearms in his house and had also booby-trapped it with nails embedded in sticks, barbed wire and electrically wired door handles.

Cannabis plants were found in a room in the house set up to grow the drug and bags of cannabis, along with a sawn-off shotgun, were in the garage downstairs.

Mr Drew said that after discovering the cannabis and firearm in the garage, Mr Diver went upstairs to find Mr Snee being confronted by Molenaar, who had the sawn-off rifle.

Mr Snee was then shot in the left hip and forearm and a third shot struck his upper body from the front.

Two of the shots were not survivable and his death would have been immediate, Mr Drew said.

Molenaar then shot Mr Miller and Mr Diver who dragged themselves along the road to find cover as Molenaar chased and shot at them again.

Mr Drew praised the actions of Mr Holmwood, 44, who grappled with Molenaar to try to stop him firing at the officers again, saying he may well have save their lives.

He said there were many acts of bravery by police and other emergency staff which had yet to come out.

"But I can say there were some heroic acts of bravery that took place that day, the details of which will come out over the next few days."

Mr Drew said Molenaar was found dead in the main bedroom of his house following sporadic contact by phone with police negotiators the day before.

Early on Friday afternoon Molenaar told his partner, Delwyn Keefe, he didn't want to come out, didn't want to go to jail for killing Mr Snee and "would do it his way".

A short time later he sent a text to a close family member and five minutes later a single shot was heard from inside the house.

Police knew Molenaar had been wounded, but did not know if he was still alive, so adopted a cautious approach, firing gas canisters into the house in a bid to get a response, Mr Drew said.

A police marksman fired two shots at Molenaar at about 12.20pm on Thursday, only a few hours after his fusillade of shots.

A volley of shots was fired at Armed Offenders Squad (AOS) members in a house nearby and when Molenaar pointed his semi-automatic rifle from a partly opened door leading on to the deck of his house, an officer fired two shots.

Molenaar "retracted" and there was a temporary lull in firing, Mr Drew said.

The following day he told a friend by phone he had been wounded but gave no details.

Mr Drew said the police marksman's action had been fully investigated and fully complied with the law relating to self-defence and the defence of others.

He said police investigations into the episode were continuing, with four separate examinations in progress into: Mr Snee's murder; the attempted murders of Mr Miller and Mr Diver; the attempted murder of Mr Holmwood; and the attempted murders of neighbours, passers-by and other emergency services workers.

A scene examination of the Chaucer Road property was continuing and Mr Drew said anyone who had had property damaged from shots fired by Molenaaer should contact them.

Meanwhile, police have announced details for a public trust fund for Mr Snee's family and the other injured victims.

Police said there had already been several messages from members of the public asking how they could make donations and a trust had been set up with the Bank of New Zealand.

Mr Snee's funeral will be held in Napier at 1pm on Wednesday.

NEIGHBOUR STILL CRITICAL

Mr Holmwood, 44, who remained in a critical condition in Hawke's Bay Hospital, along with Messrs Miller and Diver, has been praised for his courageous actions after the initial shots were fired at the police officers.

Describing what he termed "a very frightening and dangerous situation involving murderous intent", Mr Drew praised Mr Holmwood, ambulance officers, neighbours and passers-by who tried to help the badly injured policemen.

"Leonard Holmwood performed an act of bravery that may have saved their lives by grappling with the gunman."

Molenaar ran down the road and shot at Mr Miller and Mr Diver as they dragged themselves up the road to find cover.

Mr Holmwood grappled with the gunman to try to stop him firing at them again and may have saved their lives as a result, Mr Drew said.

Mr Holmwood was shot in the left thigh and had to drag himself to safety behind a wall until he could be rescued by AOS members.

Constable Diver dragged himself to a house where he rang for help and Mr Miller managed to reach an adjoining driveway out of sight of the gunman.

Today Mr Diver was described as stable but improving while Mr Miller has undergone further minor surgery and is in a drug-induced coma.

Mr Holmwood was also undergoing surgery today but was also improving.

A post mortem on Mr Snee's body was completed in Wellington on Saturday. Superintendent Drew said today that Snee could not have survived the gunshot wounds.

"He was shot three times: one shot through the left forearm, another through the upper torso, and a third through the lower torso. Neither shot to the torso was survivable; death was immediate. "

Mr Snee's funeral will be held in Napier on Wednesday at 1pm.

Police are continuing a scene examination of the Chaucer Road property today which could take several days to complete.

Mr Drew said it was highly unlikely there were still residents they were not aware of who had been injured by a stray bullet, but if there were they should contact police as soon as possible.

Those who had property damaged from shots fired by Molenaaer should also contact them.

He revealed Mr Diver had gone upstairs after finding cannabis and a firearm in Molenaar's garage to find Mr Snee being confronted by Molenaar, who had a sawn-off rifle.

Mr Snee was subsequently shot in the left hip and forearm and a third shot struck his upper body from the front.

Two of the shots were not survivable and his death would have been immediate, said Mr Drew.

Bullet fragments from a.223 rifle were found in his body during a post mortem in Wellington.

Molenaar had nine firearms of varying calibre upstairs in his house and another nine that police had seen downstairs, although there could be more.

The weapons were described as "military type" and a large amount of ammunition was at the property.

GUNMAN 'JUST SNAPPED'

Earlier today, Peter Molenaar told Radio New Zealand that the last time he had seen his brother was two weeks ago. He said it "seemed as though something was bugging him" and he had mentioned his distrust of the police, though it had not seemed too serious at the time.

He said he believed police would have been wiser to wait for his brother to return from his morning walk on Thursday before attempting to search the Chaucer Rd property for drugs.

"Anyone would know Jan. . .if anyone was wandering in his house, that was enough to set him off," he said.

"If he had have been there and talked to them himself it would have been better. But his partner let them in the house, so he didn't know the situation.

"He's come home and seen them in the house and just snapped. That's just triggered him off."

Peter said as soon as the siege began they knew that Jan would not come out alive and the family had begun planning the funeral as early as Friday.

He said there had been large amounts of support for the family, in particular for their mother Anna.

Peter said Jan was a family man, "quite intelligent…and switched on".

He said he was not aware of Jan’s weapons stash and said Jan would have had it stored away from prying eyes.

"He may have had a couple but I didn't realise what he had. I don't think anyone had any idea."

Jan was very protective of his home and the police entering it while he was not home would have been enough to "set him off".

Peter said it was an "extreme overreaction. There was no turning back after that and he realised that".

He disputed claims that Jan was using pure methamphetamine and steroids and that he was a loner.

"He was just like everyone else, just getting on with life."

Peter also claimed that the officers had been watching Jan's house and had waited until he left before entering, a claim that was refuted by Police Association spokesman Greg O’Connor.

Mr O'Connor said it was meant to be a "low key" search warrant, carried out by the three policemen.

He also said the incident was proof that New Zealanders needed to allow police more freedom in order to do their job. He hoped it would see the rollout of Tasers fast-tracked to give officers more protection.

- By CLIO FRANCIS and MICHAEL FOX, Stuff.co.nz with NZPA