1990: The David Gray Manhunt

November 13, 2023

By AHNZ

Tonight in New Zealand history, 7.30pm, 13 November, 1990, David Gray of Aramoana proceeded to massacre his neighbors and hold off 6 police forces using one riffle.

Grey killed 13 people including the local police sergeant, Stewart Guthrie. Three others he shot but did not kill, starting off with Chiquita Holden (9 years old) and ending with Stephen Vaughan (27 years old) of the The Anti Terrorist Squad. Interestingly, that shared experience led to Vaughan and Holden marrying each other in 2018. Ref. Stuff (2018)

The policeman, Guthrie, had come to the scene of the killings armed and ready. Upon meeting the killer he fired a warning shot and ordered him to surrender. Instead, Gray shouted, “Don’t shoot!” which apparently the policeman complied with which allowed Gray to fire several times, killing Guthrie instantly. The cop let his guard down because the killer told him to!? Truth is stranger than fiction.

The Aramoana Massacre spanned 22 hours. Local police were joined by the Dunedin Armed Offenders Squad (AOS,) the Christchurch AOS, Timaru AOS, and Invercargill AOS.

The Special Tactics Group/Anti Terrorist Squad of which Vaughn was a part really wanted to be there too and it was what they were for. Unfortunately, Air Force transport was not available so the Tactics Group- in full costume- traveled by early morning business flight along with the regular commuters on the morning of the 14th. New Police Minister John Banks was along for the ride too and perhaps helped facilitate the civilian airline carrying the armored warriors and their machine guns. They finally get boots on the ground at 1.30 the afternoon after Grey’s rampage.

At 4:10pm Banksie’s Special Squad storm Grey’s holiday house with stun grenades and tear gas. They blow out the windows, kick in the door. It didn’t matter, it’s empty. Grey wasn’t there! He is still at liberty to snipe the police while they are going after a decoy. The Special Squad now spends about an hour playing hide-and-seek.

Until 4:45pm Grey has been in control of the seaside Otago settlement, Aramoana. Despite all these men and resources, which now included an armored car and helicopter air support, the State was unable to keep New Zealanders safe from one untrained man and his gun. “Mike Kyne of the STG says he expected to lose two or three men that day” but, no, it was only one man hiding and shooting rapidly. Ref. Murderpedia

Now, finally, David Grey starts to meet his match. At 5pm the Aramoana houses are still being evacuated. This time the cops think they have the right house to target and at around 5.50pm make their move. Just as well too as in about 2 hours the sun would set and give Grey a second night at large, per chance to escape.

The Squad sent a stun grenade through a window which Grey deflected straight back at them using a bed mattress! The grenade came to land near the officers themselves!

The Special Tactics Squad now opened fire with tear gas and bullets. Grey fired right back in a firefight lasting 2 minutes; A long time. It was now that someone, probably the police themselves, put a shot through Officer Vaughan’s ankle. David Grey is still winning against Police Goliath on points.

“Guthrie encountered Gray coming out of the darkness. Yelling at the gunman to surrender, he fired a warning shot. Gray shouted, “Don’t shoot!”, leading Guthrie to believe he was surrendering. However, Gray suddenly fired several times, one shot striking Guthrie in the head, killing him instantly.” – The London Gazette, Wiki

“…Gray’s primary weapon was a Norinco 84S 5.56mm semi-automatic rifle which had a similar appearance to and internal mechanism based on the Russian AK-47 assault rifle,..” – Wiki

“It’s Wednesday So I do the mail orders There’s nothing much Some oilskins and a 303 For a hunter over in Westland And oh yeah One of those AK-47s For some collector down the line” – A Thing Well Made, The Mutton Birds (1992)

“This happened when a lot of changes were introduced by the govt and the NZ we knew was disappearing. This was no coincidence. The real reasons were slightly shown on the TV movie. The awake would have picked up on them immediately.” – Rangi Carroll, Facebook (2017)

“Gray went down shouting “shoot me shoot me”, but the police did not fire again. Eleven rounds had been fired at Gray and five hit him, but even then while on the ground Gray fought like a madman and he actually broke out of a pair of plastic handcuffs, but then quite suddenly the fight went out of him and he stopped fighting and died.” – janmeecham.wordpress.com (2018)

“Kill me! Fucking kill me!” He manages several steps despite being hit five times: in the eye (that bullet spirals through his brain and exits through his neck), in the chest and in the groin. His legs buckling, Gray falls, dropping his weapons but the fight isn’t done. Despite his injuries as officers pile in to disarm him, the adrenalin-fuelled Gray struggles fiercely, breaking free of the first set of plastic handcuffs used before being re-cuffed, all the while berating police for not killing him.” – Sparke (2019)

“The gunman, who had killed 13 people aged between six and 71, was shot and fatally injured the following day by members of the Anti-Terrorist Squad (now the Special Tactics Group).” – NZ Police Museum, Facebook (2014)

“I could have killed them all. I could have killed you. In town you’re the law, out here it’s me. Don’t push it. Don’t push it or I’ll give you a war you won’t believe.” – John Rambo, First Blood (1982)

“David Grey did not identify as a looser. He ego-identified as a masculine man. He was an avid consumer of military books such as the Soldier of Fortune magazine. Based on his performance during his killing spree he, like Stanley Graham in a similar situation, would have been an excellent fighter for New Zealand. Unfortunately his violence was pointed at our people rather than in the service of their protection.” – 1990: David’s Got A Gun, AHNZ

“We knew then it was going to be a hard slog. So many houses to clear. No relief. No food. Sweat-soaked gear. Hardly any sleep in 30 hours and time was running out. We had to find Gray before dark.” – p54 Lockyer (2009)

David Grey now came running out of the smokey house into the teeth of the Anti Terrorist cops yelling “Kill me! Fucking kill me!” while shooting “from the hip.” They try to oblige, “Eleven rounds had been fired at Gray and five hit him” before his advance was halted.

Still the police were not in control. Grey, now mortally wounded, struggled fiercely and berated the police for not killing him. One of he bullets had passed through he eye, his brain, and out his neck. The Police handcuff Grey. He’s still not done.

Grey breaks out of the handcuffs! The police are abused and covered in Grey’s blood attempting to restrain the killer but it’s clear by 6.10pm they have handcuffed a corpse; David Grey is done.

The last time something like this had happened it had been on the opposite coast of the South Island and north a bit:  Koiterangi 1941. Another frustrated man, Stanley Graham, was marked for death by the State. “Then the circus began. Two weeks of the combined forces of New Zealand Police, Home Guard, New Zealand Army, New Zealand Air Force, and civilian man-hunters threw all they had at trying to catch/kill this 1940s New Zealand Rambo. Finally, they did.” Ref. 1941: The Graham Manhunt, AHNZ

Stanley Graham held out for 12 days, David Grey for 22 hours. Graham killed 7, Grey 13. Both cases show that the Government does not have an easy win in a contest of asymmetric warfare. Neither Graham nor Grey had a pre-meditated prepared strategy. They simply reacted to the fact that they had become marked for death by waging an impromptu war with the resources they had close to hand. The bumbling of the hundreds of Government officers in both cases reminds me of a quote from one of Terry Pratchett’s novels. He says few people really know that a man can outrun a horse, at least over short distances. A man has less legs to sort out than a horse, and can be gently fading over the horizon by the time a horse gets going. David Grey had murdered men, women, and children mostly unopposed the morning he died. The ATS was quibbling about having stun grenades in their checked luggage and picking out their in-flight “tea or coffee” with the Minister of Police during the heat of the killing spree.

Nothing so horrible as 1941 or 1990 occurred in New Zealand again until Australian visitor Brenton Tarrant made a 1-man raid of Al Noor Mosque and Linwood Islamic Centre in 2019, murdering 51. Tarrant had careful plans,  a political manifesto, and even corresponded with the Prime Minister in advance of his attack. Yet, by luck or good tactics the New Zealand Police captured Tarrant within 30 minutes of his attack. Ref. Al Noor Mosque, NZB3

The David Gray Manhunt was poorly executed operation. A bad start to the new 1990s decade and to the new National 4.0 Ministry. How it all came to this is best explored with an analysis of where Grey came from and what Aramoana and New Zealand was like. Just 10 years before when it was full of close community energy and famous in New Zealand as Independent State of Aramoana. By 1990 Gray, and Aramoana, had grown into a shadow of former promise and this is probably the best answer as to why this lone man turned homicidal against what was supposed to be his home and his people.

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Image ref. David Grey image from Wikipedia via Stuff. Colour added by AHNZ (2023)

Image ref. 1988 Police Car, NZ Police Museum, Facebook (2023)

Ref. Aramoana: In Search Of New Zealand’s Worst Spree Killing, Andrew Sparke (2019)

Ref. Line of Fire, John Lockyer (2009)

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