Pupil greeted at door by shotgun

Press, 29 May 1989, Page 1

Pupil greeted at door by shotgun

By

BARRY CLARKE

A secondary school pupil who opened the door to an early morning caller yesterday was greeted by a shotgun and the words: “Ring me a taxi.” Aaron Bell, aged 15, was at a friend’s house in Winters Road, Papanui, when there was a loud knock at the front door at 1.50 a.m.

“We were sitting around, talking. One of the girls said, as a joke, ‘it’s probably one of the

escaped prisoners,’ ” said the Hagley High School pupil. “I opened the door and there was this guy with a shotgun. Ail he said was ‘ring me a taxi.’ Then he loaded the gun in front of me.

“I freaked out. I thought I was going to die.” Eleven people were in the house, including two children in bed. “Everyone freaked out and took off into other rooms just in case he shot. I went back into

the lounge. He didn’t come inside. He looked pretty stoned,” Aaron said.* The gunman’s instructions were not carried out. Instead, a woman, aged 25, in the house telephoned her boyfriend, who in turn contacted the police. “When he knew we weren’t ringing a taxi, he didn’t stick around. He would have been on the doorstep for about five minutes. Then he ran away for some reason.

“It was a big relief,” said Aaron. . A police patrol found the man, aged in his late 20s, walking in Main North Road with the shotgun soon after the incident. He surrendered without a struggle and was taken to Sunnyside Hospital, said Inspector Chris Cole. A mental assessment will determine if charges will be laid.