An Armed Offenders Squad officer has described a colleague being shot during the search of a house at the centre of a siege near Kawerau last year.
Armed police at the scene of the siege near Kawerau in March 2016. Photo: RNZ / Diego Opatowski
Rhys Warren, 28, is on trial in the High Court in Hamilton on charges including two counts of attempted murder and one of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.
Three officers were shot and wounded after entering the house during a nearly 24-hour siege at a property near Kawerau in March last year, and another was wounded later.
Constable Martyn Roe was one of a team of six officers who went into the house.
He told the court he heard a loud bang and saw Constable Regan Mauheni fall backwards and bounce on the wooden floor.
Mr Roe said he was able to drag Mr Mauheni to safety as other officers provided covering fire.
He said he thought his injured colleague was either dying in front of him or was already dead.
'I could hear gunshots ... I couldn't see'
Mr Mauheni, who also gave evidence, said he had no recollection of who had shot him.
He said he was standing next to another officer as they were trying to clear the house and the next thing he remembered was lying on the floor.
"I could hear gunshots and I could hear yelling ... I couldn't see ... I know now that my eyes were full of blood."
He received wounds to his head, face, neck and chest, and said he was in considerable pain as other officers removed his AOS gear once he had been rescued from the house.
Mr Mauheni said he required surgery and months of rehabilitation before his return to work.
