Nelson sergeant Mike Wardle says he’s “humbled” by the rare bravery award he received yesterday for staring down the barrel of a loaded shotgun, giving a wounded officer time to get free.
Mike was working in Christchurch when he turned up to a “routine” job. He and another officer were knocking on the doors of a block of four flats to issue a warning to the owners. When the officers got to the last house they smelt cannabis. The owner admitted to smoking it but Mike wasn’t satisfied and asked to come in, suspecting they were growing cannabis inside.
That started a series of events that led to officer Bruce Lamb being shot in the face as he opened the bedroom door of the offender, officer Mitch Alatalo being shot in the leg as he escaped by a bathroom window and police dog Gage being shot and killed.
As Bruce lay on the floor with a shattered jaw, Mike stepped over his colleague with a taser pointed at the offender, who had a loaded gun pointed at his head. The taser missed the mark and the offender’s gun twice jammed as he tried to shoot Mike in the face.
As Mike quickly reloaded the taser the man ran back into his bedroom, giving officers enough time to get Bruce out of the house and to hospital.
The gunman, Christopher Graham Smith, was sentenced to 14 years in prison for the incident and Mike was awarded with the NZ Bravery Decoration for an act of exceptional bravery in a situation of danger.
Mike says it was a horrible incident but he was honoured to receive the award.
