Surrender ends Dunedin Airport shotgun siege

Press, 20 December 1979, Page 1

Surrender ends Dunedin Airport shotgun siege

PA Dunedin A big armed offenders emergency in Dunedin ended about 11 a.m. yesterday with the surrender of four armed youths and the release of hostages they had taken. The police arrested two of the youths at Momona Airport, and the other two at a Dunedin shopping mall. The only injury was to one of the youths, who hurt himself when he stumbled. The affair began at 11 a.m. on Tuesday, when the four youths—Rex Bartholomew Tukuafu, aged 18; Kenneth Hunter Georgeson, aged 19; MurrayJames Sharp, aged 19; and Terry Paul Taituha, aged 18 — escaped from the Invercargill Borstal. Sergeant M. W. Holmes said the four took a car and drove to Dunedin. At some stage they changed the car for another and also obtained a shotgun. Two constables in a patrol car stopped the youths in Dunedin at 5 a.m. yesterday. After a discussion, the four youths drove off and were chased to Andersons Bay.

A confrontation took place and one of the youths presented a shotgun at the constables, according to Sergeant Holmes. A second patrol car with another two constables arrived. The two policemen attempted to arrest the youths and a scuffle took place.

Constable D. McMillan was forced at gunpoint into one of the patrol cars, Sergeant Holmes said. Two of the youths took the car and disappeared. The other two forced Constable McMillan to drive the other patrol car to Momona Airport. An attempt was made to talk the youths into taking one of the patrol cars but no hostage, but they would not agree. Sergeant Holmes said. At Momona the two youths burst in on an air traffic controller. Mr J. Davis, taking him hostage, with an unidentified meteorological officer. Telephone contact was established with the youths in the airport tower and about 8.30 a.m. they released the meteorological officer.

The youths had made no demand other than for food, which the police supplied. The airport was closed to traffic, three arrivals and three departures being cancelled. In Dunedin, an intensive search was being made for the other two youths. At 11 a.m., the police were telephoned by a civilian from a shopping mall in George Street, who thought he had seen the two escapers. Five police cars went to the mall with at least 12 plain clothes policemen, some of whom were armed. They mingled with Christmas shoppers, arrested the two youths and took them to the C. 1.8 headquarters Neither of the youths was armed and no resistence was offered to the police. Soon afterwards the youths in the control tower were disarmed and agreed to surrender. They were arrested without resistance. All four youths will appear in the Magistrate's Court at Dunedin today. Mr Davis said that after watching the pair hold the shotgun on the constable for 10 minutes on the tarmac below’ the tower, he admitted feeling "apprehensive” when he heard them break the window and climb the stairs. However, he said after conversation with them it was obvious that the pair had no intention of harming the hostages. About 15 minutes after talking by telephone to the police and the superintendent of the Invercargill Borstal, the pair unloaded the shotgun and handed it to Constable McMillan “Given the circumstances. I was reasonably happy,” Mr Davis said. “The constable was quite calm about the whole thing. Once T had spoken to the two blokes who came up with the constable, it was quite obvious their intention was not to harm us in any event, though they did have a gun.” Mr Davis said that the gun was always held by one of the two escapers although it was never deliberately pointed at him. "When it was accidentally pointed in our direction we reminded them and they averted the barrels.” “The tension eased quite a bit when the gun changed hands,” Mr Davis said. "The police constable handled things very calmly. He talked to the youths quite a lot and helped them out and helped them make their decision,” Mr Davis said.