A statement from Acting National Commissioner Sean Mason:
On behalf of Corrections, I would like to express our deepest sympathies to the families and loved ones of the victims of today’s shooting.
I would also like to acknowledge the survivors, witnesses and emergency responders. I can only imagine their horror and pain, and the enduring trauma that they will face. Our thoughts are with them at this difficult time.
While Police have not formally identified the shooter, we have been advised the suspected offender is a 24 year old man subject to home detention. Our Chief Probation Officer is carrying out a full review into this offender’s management. He was sentenced in court to five months home detention for family violence offending on 28 March 2023. He was subject to ten standard conditions, plus the following five special conditions:
- Not to possess, consume or use any alcohol or drugs not prescribed to him.
- To attend and complete an appropriate alcohol and drug programme to the satisfaction of a Probation Officer. The specific details of the appropriate programme shall be determined by a Probation Officer.
- To attend and complete an appropriate non-violence programme to the satisfaction of a Probation Officer. The specific details of the appropriate programme shall be determined by a Probation Officer.
- Not to associate with or contact a specific person without the prior written approval of a Probation Officer.
- To reside at a specific address.
While our full review is yet to be undertaken, initial information suggests that Community Corrections staff managed his compliance with these conditions closely. He was in frequent contact with staff, and was required to report in to his Probation Officer twice every ten days. He had last reported in yesterday.
Home detention requires a person to remain at a suitable and approved residence at all times and be electronically monitored 24 hours a day, seven days a week, unless approval to leave is given by a Probation Officer. This person had approved regular absences to travel to his place of employment, including at the time the incident occurred this morning.
He had completed an alcohol and other drug programme, and had been drug tested twice during his sentence, with negative results on both occasions. He was also actively engaged in a non-violence programme.
While initial indications are that Community Corrections staff were appropriately monitoring and managing his risk, the full review being carried out by our Chief Probation Officer will identify any action we can take to help prevent a horrific tragedy like this from happening again. We are absolutely committed to learning from this event and continuing our work to keep New Zealanders safe.
Please see the Terms of Reference PDF, 88.6 KB for the Chief Probation Officer’s review for more information.