Source: Radio New Zealand
Benjamin Timmins. Supplied
The body of Benjamin Timmins is set to undergo a post-mortem today, as family grapple with confusion over Wednesday’s events.
Police were called to the Waitārere Beach Road address by a silent 111 call, made by a child at the scene, where they found four people with gunshot wounds.
A 60-year old man, who family have identified as Timmins, died, and a 46-year-old woman and two males aged 17 and 21 remain critically injured in Wellington Hospital.
Police have revealed they responded to a family harm-related incident at the same property on the Friday before the shooting.
They seized a dismantled gun, parts and ammo from the property, and a person was arrested and charged with assault on a family member.
Police said that person was due in court on the day of the fatal shooting.
The Levin District Court confirmed to RNZ a hearing had been scheduled for Timmins that day.
Timmins’ sister Rach O’Grady told RNZ earlier this week she was concerned by the picture his past would paint, and that he was more than just his criminal history, which included cannibis and firearms offences.
She said in recent years he had “lost is spark for life”, and she blamed failures of the mental health support system for his death.
Family and friends gathered outside the property on Thursday as his body was removed.
It was taken to the mortuary in Palmerston North ahead of a post-mortem today.
O’Grady told RNZ she hoped the police investigation would bring answers.
Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
