Shot cop won't quit police

The wounded policeman who walked into a hail of bullets in South Auckland cannot move without pain but is vowing he will not quit.

Jeremy Snow, 28, was shot four times without warning, in his legs, arm, and chest, as he investigated a car in a Papatoetoe driveway.

A man is now charged with attempted murder.

"I just want to get back out on the job. Keeping the community safe, that's what I'm about," he told the Weekend Herald from his Middlemore Hospital bed.

Mr Snow, who has had two operations on his legs and was due for another, may also need a bone graft in his left leg.

He was having physiotherapy on his legs and had to be turned regularly, which caused considerable pain.

He said he was overwhelmed by the support he'd received from the public.

"I want to say thanks to everyone who's prayed for me, who don't even know me, who've wished for a speedy recovery."

He also said he was grateful his partner, Constable Robert Cato, was not hurt.

The two policemen were investigating a car which had its hazard lights on when a flurry of shots were fired.

Mr Cato backed off and called for help and within a few minutes armed police rushed in, not knowing where the gunman was, and pulled Mr Snow to safety.

Doctors later said had he not received immediate first aid treatment he could have bled to death after a bullet hit him in an artery in his leg.

Mr Snow's mother, Colleen Snow, said at the hospital she could not thank the police enough for saving her son.

"The first thing Jeremy said to me when he got out of the ICU was 'Mum, I'm not quitting"'.

- NZPA