Paramedic describes 'chaotic scene' in aftermath of Massey police shooting

He is on trial at the Auckland High Court.
He is on trial at the Auckland High Court. Photo credit: Newshub.

The jury in the trial of a man who has pleaded guilty to killing 28-year-old police officer Constable Matthew Hunt in Massey last year, has heard from some of the first paramedics to arrive at the scene of the West Auckland shooting. 

Eli Bob Sauni Epiha has pleaded guilty to the murder of Constable Hunt, as well as a charge of dangerous driving causing injury to a member of the public. 

But the 25-year-old has pleaded not guilty to the attempted murder of Constable David Goldfinch, the other police officer on scene that day, who was shot and injured. 

On Monday, the defence for Epiha, who is on trial at the High Court at Auckland, told the court that Epiha accepts that he wounded Constable Goldfinch in the shooting, but it wasn't with the intention to kill him. 

On Tuesday morning, the court heard from St John Paramedic Joanne Stuart, who was tasked with assisting Constable Goldfinch with his injuries.

Stuart described the scene when she arrived at Hewlett Drive, near where the shooting took place, as 'chaotic'. 

"There was lots of armed police officers, police dogs, quite a chaotic scene," she told the court. 

"Constable Goldfinch was on the floor, he was being supported by other police officers, he was without his stab vest, in his sweater,"

"His right trouser leg was rolled up and I could see a bandage on that leg, he was in a lot of pain," Stuart said while being examined by Crown Solicitor Brian Dickey. 

Stuart told the court how she and a colleague transported Constable Goldfinch to Auckland Hospital in an ambulance, and that when they got there, Constable Matthew Hunt and the ambulance carrying him had already arrived. 

"A police officer asked if we could just wait with Constable Goldfinch before we took him out of the ambulance - he was stable - until they took Matthew out of the ambulance and into the resuscitation area," she said. 

"We paused for a while until the ED staff had worked with Matthew, and we were told to take Constable Goldfinch into another entry point of resuscitation so that we didn't bypass." 

On trial alongside Eli Epiha, is Natalie Bracken, 31. 

She has pleaded not guilty to a charge of being an accessory after the fact to murder, by allegedly driving a vehicle to enable Epiha to avoid arrest. 

The trial is expected to last up to three weeks.