An Upper Hutt woman says she had managed to calm down an armed man before police shot and killed him at a McDonald's last month.
But police say CCTV footage from the scene doesn't match the woman's story.
It was a day Lesley Sole will never forget. It was a regular lunchtime in central Upper Hutt, when Pera Smiler walked into the local McDonald's and opened fire.
He then left the restaurant and was shot by police outside, but Ms Sole says she had managed to calm him down.
"We had a good conversation and he was relaxed. I wasn't scared of him," she recalls.
It was her first day at a new job at the City Stop shop across the road from McDonald's.
She says Smiler came across the road towards her yelling for police to shoot him.
Ms Sole claims she approached him and they had a long discussion.
"He asked me my name and I told him. He said to me 'you're a nice lady for listening'."
Ms Sole says after they talked, Smiler relaxed and began to drop his rifle.
"After a while I said to him 'how about come over here and give me the rifle'.
"My feeling in me was he was going to give it to me."
That's when a police dog came around the corner. She says he panicked, firing at the dog. Police fired back.
Ms Sole knows police were concerned for her own safety.
"I can understand that but I didn't feel in any danger.
"They did their job."
Ms Sole says she wants to meet Smiler's family to tell them he wasn't alone when he died.
Police say they've spoken to dozens of witnesses, including Ms Sole, who have different recollections of that day.
They've also reviewed CCTV and amateur footage of the incident that provide a different perspective of the events than what Ms Sole recalls.
Investigations are continuing.
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