Sylvia Park shooting: Man fatally shot by police was on community detention

A man who was fatally shot by police as he approached Auckland's Sylvia Park Shopping Centre while carrying a stolen air rifle was on community detention and supervision, RNZ can reveal.RNZ has seen a number of tribute posts online for the man who died.RNZ understands the 33-year-old had four previous convictions for firearms offences and was sentenced to four years in prison in 2023 for aggravated robbery.After being released in 2025, he stole more than $1000 worth of goods from Rebel Sports and was serving a sentence of four months community detention and supervision.Do you know more? Email sam.sherwood@rnz.co.nzIt is understood he was on this sentence when he was shot dead on Thursday.He was facing a charge of taking a Subaru Legacy when he was killed and appeared in court less than a month ago.In response to questions from RNZ, Corrections director of communities, partnerships and pathways Simon Chaplin said Corrections' thoughts were with those impacted by the incident at Sylvia Park."Corrections can confirm this person was subject to community detention and supervision.A screen has been put up outside Footlocker on Friday.RNZ / Marika Khabazi"Their community sentence included a 7pm-7am curfew where electronic monitoring was used to verify that they were at their home address during the hours of this curfew. They were not in breach of this curfew at the time the Sylvia Park incident occurred."Corrections was reviewing its involvement with the man."It would not be appropriate for us to provide further information while this and the police reviews are ongoing."According to Corrections' website community detention is a "punitive sentence that restricts an offender's movements during their curfew". The offenders are subject to electronic monitoring and/or GPS, and they must wear an anklet at all times during their sentence.Some of Footlocker's window panes have been covered.RNZ / Marika Khabazi"It requires an offender to remain at an approved residence at certain times specified by the court. This is known as the offender's curfew."Electronic monitoring equipment is installed at the offender's address and their compliance with their curfew is electronically monitored for the duration of the sentence."Offenders can be sentenced to community detention for between 14 days and six months.Gun City owner David Tipple, where police say the man stole the air rifle from, told RNZ staff chased the man after the theft.Tipple said the man was being shown the empty air rifle when he grabbed it and ran, with the staff going after him."One staff member got close to catching him but the man succeeded in driving off in a car."Tipple said no one has ever done this in their 48 years of business.He raised concerns about public blame."People seek to blame an inanimate object which is responsibly used by hundreds of thousands of law abiding New Zealanders instead of looking into why this man, known to the courts, was able to place the public, and himself, in danger," Tipple said.Police remain at the scene on Friday.RNZ / Marika KhabaziPost-mortem underwayOn Friday, Superintendent Sunny Patel said a scene examination has been completed and a post-mortem examination is underway."As part of completing the scene examination, Ngāti Paoa led a blessing at the scene last night," Patel said."I understand the events that unfolded have shaken people that were there at the time, and the wider community. There will be an increased police presence around Sylvia Park Shopping Centre over the coming week to provide reassurance for the public."Patel said a team of investigators will continue to piece together Thursday's events and include reviewing CCTV and speaking with witnesses."We are supporting our staff that responded to yesterday's events. This was a very fast-moving event, and our thoughts are with everyone involved."The man's next of kin have also been notified, Patel said."We visited the family last night and we extend our condolences to them, and support will be made available to them as part of the investigation," Patel said.Patel earlier said police had received information about the theft of an air rifle from Gun City in Penrose around 2pm on Thursday.Police vehicles and the Eagle helicopter were dispatched to the area, locating the car near Sylvia Park.Spikes were successfully deployed but the car continued towards Mount Wellington Highway, still being driven in an erratic manner, Patel said.RNZ / Marika KhabaziPolice confronted the man underneath an overpass as he approached the entrance of Sylvia Park, still carrying the air rifle. He was then shot by police.Patel confirmed police were carrying out a critical incident investigation. He also confirmed the IPCA had been notified and would be carrying out its own investigation.He said it was not known whether the air rifle was loaded, or whether the man had any ammunition.Patel was not aware of how many times the man was shot, whether there had been any attempt to detain him or whether he had aimed the weapon at anyone."That's something that will need to be uncovered when we carry out the full investigation, when we've actually spoken to the police officers involved," he said on Thursday night.The decision to shoot rested with the officer at the scene, and no clearance was required, he said."Our investigation is still at the very early stages of piecing together the events," he said.Superintendent Sunny Patel (file image).RNZ / Marika KhabaziPatel could not comment on whether the man had threatened staff at the gun shop, or if staff had attempted to stop the man. The gun theft had been a shoplifting incident and the man had walked in through the front door.The police investigation would look into what happened at the store, but it was concerning the man was able to steal a weapon, Patel said."We just don't know the circumstances of how he became in possession of that firearm."Until we've actually figured out the nature of the actual theft and how it occurred, it is of concern."Patel said the man was alone, and they were not looking for anyone else in relation to the incident.Witnesses or anyone with phone or dashcam footage were urged to come forward.Patel said he was happy with police response times to the incident, and said they were providing support to the officer who fatally shot the man.