Double Olympian and former Football Fern Kristy Hill and her family were left traumatised following an incident on Tuesday evening where they claim Auckland Police pointed semi-automatic rifles at them.
Speaking exclusively to Te Karere, Hill said she and her partner Tama Hovell received a phone call from Hovell's mother. She said the landlord visited and warned her that a firearm had been presented at the couple's property in Ōtāhuhu.
Worried about the situation, they arrived at the property where they say Hovell called the police immediately as Hill checked the premises where she found nothing untoward.
"Tama was on the phone for 37 minutes, with the police officer explaining, giving us all the details, what was happening, that he had spoken to the landlord, the property manager, who had told us that there was a man who pointed a gun at the security guard," explained Hill.
While Hovell was on the phone, Hill said she was with the kids across the road at the war memorial statue when police arrived and the situation escalated.
"I was playing with bubba across the road, and Tama all of a sudden yelled 'apparently we all have to get out onto the street and put our hands up, including the children'."
Hovell was taking the lead, he said, while still on the phone, trying to organise everybody, but everything changed when he saw the firearms pointed at his family.
"They park up, jump on the back of their cars and basically lift the gun up at us and as soon as they lifted the gun…I just, I don't know, I just lost it."
Hill described the moment the police engaged with her partner.
"I remember him yelling, 'you're pointing a gun at my family.' And they're yelling, 'calm down, calm down', and he's like, 'no, I'm not going to calm down because you're pointing a gun at my family'."
She claims the police then manhandled him to the ground and handcuffed him in front of his whānau.
"Bubba was like, 'Pāpā, Pāpā'," Kristy recalled, struggling to hold back tears, "'What are they doing to Pāpā?'"
He was eventually let off with a verbal warning.
The family have made a formal complaint to the Independent Police Conduct Authority and hope to get a response as soon as possible.
Police respond
Police said officers were responding to reports of a firearm being presented at the property.
In a statement, Area Commander for Counties Manukau West Inspector Ross Elwood said the wider circumstances of the incident are still being looked into.
"Any incident where a firearm is reported to be presented, or threats are made, is taken extremely seriously. We acknowledge these situations can be unsettling for those involved.
"However, our staff must act accordingly in these situations so that we can establish whether there is any immediate risk to people nearby or in the wider community.
"Armed staff cleared the complex and nothing untoward was located. At this point in time, the involvement of a firearm... has not been established."
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