Deceased in Upper Hutt shooting officially identified

I can now officially confirm that the man fatally shot by Police yesterday was 25 year old Pera Ariki SMILER of Upper Hutt.

A post-mortem will be carried out tomorrow. Police were first called to the incident at McDonalds restaurant in Upper Hutt at12:39pm Tuesday afternoon and our officers were on the scene at 12:42pm. We are still sifting through hundreds of pieces of information and dozens of witnesses who, as you can appreciate, can have different accounts of the same event.

I have reviewed the CCTV footage of the event this afternoon and remain confident that my officers acted appropriately to keep the community safe. This has been a very upsetting time for the people of Upper Hutt and I would like to reiterate my thanks to the members of the public who are helping us with your enquiries and for your messages of support. As our investigation is ongoing we will not be in a position to release any further details in the coming days. We are liaising closely with and providing support to the family of Mr Smiler.

They have asked that we pass on that they will not speaking to media and have requested privacy at this very difficult and tragic time.

SUPT SAM HOYLE, DISTRICT COMMANDER WELLINGTON POLICE

-ENDS-

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