PAST SHOOTINGS
OTHER POLICE TRAGEDIES
DEVOTION TO THEIR DUTY
Though tlie West Coast tragedy in which a police sergeant and three constables were shot dead and also two civilians were killed is the worst yet in the history of the New Zealand police force, it is by no means the first in which police officers have been killed or maimed during the execution of their duty. Fortunately, New Zealand has been comparatively free in recent years from such shooting episodes, but during the decade from 1910 to 1920 there were several cases of police •officers being shot. There have through the years been many instances of policemen being held up by criminals without any harm being done. The West Coast shooting is the first affecting members of the Police Force since 1934, when Constable Heaps was killed at Morrinsville. Constable Heaps located a young Maori who was wanted by the police for various offences of breaking and entering, and he went with the Maori to his room to recover the efl'ccts. Acting swiftly, the Maori draw a revolver from a suitcase and shot the constable dead. Many people well remember to-day the days in 1911 when Powelka brought terror to the Manawatu by his wild meandcrings when he evaded arrest for some weeks. During the hunt, in which civilians as Avell as the police also took a hand, Sergeant McGuire was shot dead, but there will always remain some doubt as to whether the police sergeant was the victim of a shot fired by the mad Powelka or whether lie accidentally got in the way of a shot fired by a civilian. Powelka was charged with the offence, but was found not guilty. During the same incident a Palmerston North publican, mistaken for Powelka one night, was also killed by a gun shot. Rua Incident The Rua episode in the Urewera Country is another tragedy that wiH not be forgotten for a long time. The local constable went out to serve a warrant of commitment on Rua, but the Maori issued an ultimatum and refused to go with the constableThe result was that Commissioner' John C'ullen organised a big police party that went out into the bush of the Urewera Country in search of the wanted Native. A pitched batle took place between Ilua's friends and the police party, during which Rua's own son was killed, and three members of the police party, Constables Wright, Rushton and Neil, were hit by bullets, but they all subsequently recovered from their wounds. Rua was finally arersted at Mangapohatu on Sunday, April 2, 1916. About 1914, there was a case in Timaru when Constable Duggan, who was no night duty, disturbed a burglar who was in the progress of breaking into a shop. Unlike most burglars this one did not take flight, but instead chose to do away with the constable. As a result Constable Duggan's dead body was found in the street early next morning. Killed; Instantly Though he was not on duty at the time, Constable V. Dudding, one day in 1918, answered a call to a neighbour's house where a divorced husband was behaving violently on his former wife's premises. On arrival Constable Dudding was fired at through the kitchen window, being killed instantly. There was a case about 1920 in which Detective C. Lambert was shot by a man he had arrested. Detective Lambert was not killed, but suffered grievous wounds. In this case, which occurred in the Hamilton district, Detective Lambert and another constable had arrested a man for a series of thefts, and the detective went with the criminal to recover some of the stolen goods from a hiding place in a clump of bushes. When .ing the bushes the man drew a revolver and fired at the detective. The constable, who was nearby, despite the fact that he knew the man was armed, immediately gave chase and succeeded in arresting the assailant. Briefly these are the worst offences against police officers during the present century; there were others in the rough days of the last century. All go to show that the policeman's lot is always fraught with danger, but that his devotion to duty overrides any fears he might hold.
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Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 4, Issue 171, 22 October 1941, Page 2
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705PAST SHOOTINGS Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 4, Issue 171, 22 October 1941, Page 2
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