Timaru boy put in care after Temuka death

Press, 28 July 1987, Page 4

Timaru boy put in care after Temuka death

By

CHRIS TOBIN

in Timaru

A Timaru schoolboy has been placed in the care of the Social Welfare Department after the fatal shooting of a Temuka boy at the Temuka saleyards on Sunday. The Timaru boy has been remanded to appear in the Children and Young Persons Court at Timaru on August 19 on burglary charges, though other charges could be laid. The police believe Aaron Michael Holden, aged 14, of Rawhiti Street, Temuka, was shot in the stomach by a .308 rifle from a range of about six metres. His companion was arrested late on Sunday for the alleged theft of three rifles from a house on the eastern outskirts of Temuka. The head of the Timaru C. 1.8., Detective Sergeant Maurice Fink, said a .308 rifle has been examined by a police armourer in Wellington and he would receive a report today. Other charges might then be laid.

Aaron’s body was found late on Sunday afternoon in the sales ring and

nearby were backpacks, food, clothing, water bottles, ammunition, two .202 rifles and the .308 rifle. An incendiary device was discovered also in blood-stained sawdust.

The tragic sequence of events began on Thursday evening when one of the boys was reported missing by his family. The second boy was reported missing on Saturday and later that day, between 7 p.m. and 8 p.m. three rifles were stolen from a Temuka house.

The two boys spent the evening in a small Maori whare in the Temuka Domain only a short distance from the police station.

On Sunday morning a witness saw the boys walking to the saleyards about 900 m from the whare. They gained entry to the main saleyards building by forcing open a window. The shooting occurred some time between 9 a.m. and midday.

The police were alerted only after a member of the public overheard a conversation. The body was found by the police at 4.10 p.m. ■