{"id":233526,"date":"2026-01-14T22:46:12","date_gmt":"2026-01-14T22:46:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/233526\/"},"modified":"2026-01-14T22:46:12","modified_gmt":"2026-01-14T22:46:12","slug":"police-seized-gun-from-familys-home-hours-before-fatal-waitarere-beach-shooting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/233526\/","title":{"rendered":"Police seized gun from family&#8217;s home hours before fatal Wait\u0101rere Beach shooting"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/4JUTSZ5_IMG_1406_jpg_1.jpeg\" width=\"1050\" height=\"700\" alt=\"One person is dead, with three others critically wounded after multiple people were shot at a home in Waitarere in the Horowhenua District - 14 January 2026\"\/><\/p>\n<p class=\"photo-captioned__information\">\nPolice are not looking for anyone else in relation to the shooting.<br \/>\nPhoto: RNZ\/Mark Papalii\n<\/p>\n<p>A 111 call made from a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rnz.co.nz\/news\/national\/584063\/police-to-delve-into-true-detail-of-waitarere-beach-shooting-as-critically-injured-survivors-fight-for-their-lives\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Wait\u0101rere Beach property<\/a> where four people had been shot was made by a child, police believe.<\/p>\n<p>A man, identified by his sister as 60-year-old Benjamin Harry Timmins, was found dead and three others with gunshot wounds following the shooting on 14 January.<\/p>\n<p>Police say a dismantled gun, parts and ammo were seized from the property a few hours before police returned to find a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rnz.co.nz\/news\/national\/584063\/police-to-delve-into-true-detail-of-waitarere-beach-shooting-as-critically-injured-survivors-fight-for-their-lives\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">man dead and three others with gunshot wounds<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>They have also revealed they responded to a family harm-related incident at the same property on Friday 9 January, where a person was arrested and charged with assault on a person in a family relationship.<\/p>\n<p>The person was due in court on the day of the fatal shooting.<\/p>\n<p>The Ministry of Justice has confirmed Timmins had been set to appear in court in Levin on Wednesday.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The call we received shortly after midnight was what we call a &#8216;non-speech emergency call&#8217; &#8211; that is, the caller called 111 but did not speak. However, we believe the call was made by the child at the address,&#8221; police said in a statement on Thursday morning.<\/p>\n<p>The survivors &#8211; a 46-year-old woman and two males aged 17 and 21 &#8211; remain critically wounded in Wellington Hospital.<\/p>\n<p>A young girl at the scene is being cared for by family. Police are not looking for anyone else.<\/p>\n<p>While a 111 call was made shortly after midnight Wednesday, police have since confirmed they were first called to the address at 7.15pm.<\/p>\n<p>Inspector Ross Grantham said police went to the property after a person reported locating what they believed to be a firearm in a shed at the property.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Police located and seized a dismantled firearm, firearms parts and ammunition.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The items were seized with the intent of forensically examining them and considering any firearms-related charges that might be applicable, given that nobody residing at the property was the holder of a firearms licence.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Police were called back to the property just a few hours later, where they found one person deceased and three people critically injured.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;As we work to understand how and why this tragic incident occurred, the information gathered in the earlier visit to the address by our officers will form part of our enquiries.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I know the way events unfolded that night will weigh heavily on all those involved, but I&#8217;m confident the officers who responded to that earlier call did everything correctly and appropriately, based on the information they had to hand.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>On Facebook, Timmins&#8217; sister said he was her rock, her friend, her protector &#8220;and above all, my brother&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I will miss him.&#8221; she said.<\/p>\n<p>She said it was with the &#8220;heaviest of broken hearts&#8221; that she was sharing that he was dead.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The last of the good old boys,&#8221; she wrote. &#8220;Loved friend, father, and brother. Trickster, funny fella, all round solid gold.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>She added that there would be a private cremation.<\/p>\n<p>Grantham earlier said officers were at the property within eight minutes of the second call.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The quick response by police likely saved the three victims&#8217; lives. Our officers were confronted with a harrowing scene that no one should have to witness.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>On Thursday, Timmins&#8217; body will be taken to the mortuary in Palmerston North ahead of a post-mortem on Friday.<\/p>\n<p>Inspector Grantham said a scene examination will continue for the next few days.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Locals can expect to see a police presence in the area for the time being.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I would like to commend everyone who was involved in this harrowing ordeal, from those who called emergency services, as well as first responders at the scene.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/radionz.us6.list-manage.com\/subscribe?u=211a938dcf3e634ba2427dde9&amp;id=b3d362e693\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Sign up for Ng\u0101 Pitopito K\u014drero<\/a>, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Police are not looking for anyone else in relation to the shooting. Photo: RNZ\/Mark Papalii A 111 call&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":233527,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[48,47,111,43,139,69,49,46,44,45],"class_list":{"0":"post-233526","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-zealand","8":"tag-audio","9":"tag-current-affairs","10":"tag-new-zealand","11":"tag-news","12":"tag-newzealand","13":"tag-nz","14":"tag-podcasts","15":"tag-public-radio","16":"tag-radio-new-zealand","17":"tag-rnz"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/233526","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=233526"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/233526\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/233527"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=233526"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=233526"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=233526"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}