Not detective's job to investigate gun possession before fatal police shooting, court hears

A detective who visited Joel Buckley five months before he was fatally shot by police has told an inquest it was not his job to investigate whether the Hamilton man still had possession of a military-style rifle.

Buckley died after a shootout with police on 14 July, 2021 after he pulled a banned semi-automatic gun on them outside his Hillcrest house.

At an inquest into Buckley's death, Detective Constable Brodie McQuilkin said he discovered the day after the visit Buckley was likely still in possession of the gun, even though it should have been handed in during the buyback scheme following the Christchurch mosque attacks.

However, he did not communicate that to police staff in charge of firearms licensing and vetting because he said it was not his role to investigate or become involved further.

The inquest, which began in the Coroner's Court in Hamilton on Friday, heard McQuilkin was concerned at Buckley's demeanour when he and another officer visited him in February 2021.

He said Buckley's appearance was dishevelled; he wore two singlets - one of them ripped - he had a distinctive mohawk, and sported tattoos on his arm that read "hostile" and "infidel".

McQuilkin testified Buckley appeared unable to stand or talk properly, was mumbling his words and leaning against the door frame with his mouth open and eyes rolling.

Buckley explained his behaviour by saying he was a nightshift worker.

McQuilkin pulled out his police phone and covertly filmed the interaction, telling the court he had never done that before in 11 years of policing.

Immediately after the visit he forwarded the video to staff in the firearms unit that he had previously worked with, because he was worried Buckley may not be a suitable firearms licence holder - a detail he knew from looking Buckley up in the police intelligence system.

This was despite Buckley having a class B licence, which meant he had previously been subject to higher security and vetting requirements.

After receiving the video, a firearms staff member messaged McQuilkin to say they'd dealt with Buckley at several buybacks and he was an "unusual" character.

McQuilkin said he thought the firearms staff would make their own enquiries after receiving the video, but Chris Gudsell, KC - counsel for the coroner - pointed out they did nothing.

McQuilkin also did not add an alert to the police system about what he found.

He looked Buckley up again in the system after a second visit in February and again in June, but could not tell the court why he did so the third time.

The Independent Police Conduct Authority (IPCA), which investigated after Buckley was killed, said police were justified in shooting him that night. However, the IPCA also found "significant failures" in decisions relating to Buckley's firearms licence, and said the case was not attended to in a timely manner.

Police said they received information from a phone call to the emergency communications centre on 9 July stating that Buckley had made threats against others and was the owner of firearms, but the call-taker incorrectly coded the call.

Three days later, police paid a visit to Buckley's former associate seeking any relevant information. They continued this over the next two days.

On 14 July, Buckley became aware of the police inquiries and a risk assessment by police determined he should be located and arrested that day.

Police went to locate Buckley at his home, however, a confrontation began and shots were fired by both police and Buckley. Buckley died at the scene from gunshot wounds.

McQuilkin said he never read the IPCA report and was not aware that it was critical of police's actions relating to three visits to Buckley in 2019 and 2021, including the visit McQuilkin was involved in.

The report said if the dots had been joined between the increasingly frequent visits and the pattern of behaviour, and if Buckley had been warned, suspended or had his firearms licence revoked, it may have changed the outcome.

The inquest continues next week.

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