6 MAY 2011

NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE, No. 61

1407

continually fired volleys of shots from high calibre semi-automatic firearms.
As they moved down Chaucer Road they came across the injured Senior Constable Miller who had been shot and was lying in the driveway at 47 Chaucer Road and was being attended to by others. Ascertaining that he was stable, they found Senior Constable Len Snee lying on the road outside 41 Chaucer Road (Molenaar’s house). Bending to check Snee’s condition while cover was provided by Hurworth and Burne, Symonds found that Snee was deceased. Leonard Holmwood, a civilian who had been shot, was also located nearby. By now Symonds and his team were fully aware that the offender, Molenaar, possessed high calibre semi-automatic firearms, was able to accurately discharge them, was volatile, and had shot three police officers and a civilian. His location unknown, they knew they were in a very dangerous situation.

Even with this knowledge, he decided to press on, fully exposed to fire, looking for Senior Constable Diver. The three AOS officers thought Diver was possibly in the section at the rear of Molenaar’s house. Senior Constable Symonds called out to Diver, the calls alerting Molenaar to their position. Without any warning, Molenaar fired a volley of at least 13 shots at them. The officers took cover behind a wooden fence close to Molenaar’s house. The shots went through the fence above their heads.

Some time later Symonds received advice that Diver was at 45 Chaucer Road and went there with Hurworth. Symonds covered Chaucer Road so that medical assistance could come to Diver’s aid. Once Diver had been evacuated, Symonds and other AOS officers deployed into 43 Chaucer Road to keep Molenaar cordoned in his property. Symonds remained there until he was relieved late on the evening of 7 May 2009.

Through his radio communication, Senior Constable Symonds made a significant contribution to disseminating information on the situation to Police, enabling tactical decisions to be made, and placed himself at significant risk due to his location and these communications.

Senior Constable Symonds showed outstanding bravery, not only in making the decision to enter the immediate area outside 41 Chaucer Road on 7 May 2009 at a very early stage in the incident, knowing at least one police officer had been shot and that shots were continuing to be fired by the offender, but also in remaining there after finding a colleague shot dead and a civilian wounded. He operated in an area of challenging terrain on a search and rescue mission for those shot by the offender knowing that Molenaar was volatile and not knowing his exact location. He knew that his life was in significant danger, despite being equipped with ballistic armour, as Molenaar was using high calibre semi-automatic firearms at close range.

about this time that a group of three Armed Offenders Squad members passed close by, attracting the attention of the gunman who fired five to 10 shots from a high-powered rifle that kicked up dirt and stones very close to where they were crouching. Also about this time, Detective Sergeant Smith decided to use a red civilian car parked nearby to remove Senior Constable Miller from the scene. Sergeant Jones provided cover with his rifle while Detective Sergeant Smith drove the car to where Senior Constable Miller lay and, with the assistance of Senior Sergeant Miller and Constable Rooney, successfully evacuated Constable Miller from the scene.

Having assisted in the evacuation of Senior Constable Miller, Sergeant Jones and others withdrew from their position and established a cordon point at the northern junction of Chaucer Road South and Guys Hill Road. It was here that they were advised that the wounded Senior Constable Diver was located at No. 45 Chaucer Road South, two doors away from gunman Jan Molenaar’s house at No. 41. A plan was formulated in which an evacuation party consisting of Detective Sergeant Clere, Detective Sergeant Smith and Mr Stephen Smith, an Advanced Paramedic from St John Ambulance, would take a stretcher to where Senior Constable Diver was hiding and attempt to remove him from the scene. The plan included provision for a ‘hot extraction’ using an ambulance, should the group be fired upon at any stage.

Sergeant Jones gave his ballistic vest to the paramedic and remained at the cordon point while the evacuation party set out. Having successfully recovered Senior Constable Diver from his position at No. 45, the evacuation party began its return journey to the cordon point; however, they encountered difficulty due to the steep gradient of the hill. Seeing this, Sergeant Jones, without his ballistic vest, ran down the hill, took over from one of the other Police Officers at the front of the stretcher and assisted the group to safety.

Sergeant Jones played an important role in the events that took place on the morning of 7 May. He displayed exceptional bravery and put his own life in danger during the successful evacuation of Senior Constable Miller from his exposed position near the gunman’s house, while under fire, by providing cover while his colleagues protected Senior Constable Miller and then placed the wounded officer in the car. He performed a second act of bravery that morning by going to the assistance of the group evacuating Senior Constable Diver, even though he had earlier given his body armour to the paramedic in the evacuation team.

THE NEW ZEALAND BRAVERY DECORATION (NZBD)

Heath Courtenay JONES

Sergeant, New Zealand Police

Citation

On 7 May 2009, Sergeant Heath Jones was one of the first Police Officers to arrive at the scene of the fatal shooting of Senior Constable Len Snee, and the wounding of Mr Len Holmwood, and Senior Constables Grant Diver and Bruce Miller, by Mr Jan Molenaar in Chaucer Road South, Napier.

Sergeant Jones advanced into the immediate scene of the incident with several colleagues while under fire from Mr Molenaar. Once the position where the wounded Senior Constable Miller was lying had been located, he, along with Constable Kevin Rooney and Senior Sergeant Anthony Miller, moved over to where he lay to protect him. It was

Anthony James MILLER

Senior Sergeant, New Zealand Police

Citation

On 7 May 2009 Senior Sergeant Anthony Miller was one of the first Police Officers to arrive at the scene of the fatal shooting of Senior Constable Len Snee, and the wounding of Mr Len Holmwood, and Senior Constables Grant Diver and Bruce Miller, by Jan Molenaar in Chaucer Road South, Napier.

Though he was unarmed, Senior Sergeant Miller advanced into the immediate scene of the incident with several colleagues and, while under fire from Molenaar, located the position where Senior Constable Miller was lying, wounded. When Detective Sergeant Smith drove the car to where Constable Miller lay, Senior Sergeant Miller moved forward and, while preparations were being made to move Senior Constable Miller from the scene, covered part of Senior Constable Miller’s body with his own in order to shield him from further injury. He then assisted in placing Senior Constable Miller into the car before returning to the other members of his group who had been covering their activities.