A welfare call, a knife, and fatal gunfire: the final hours of Te Arohanui Pohio

Family members told Stuff the AI tributes misrepresented her death. On Friday morning, August 22, they walked through the property and saw evidence that it was far from peaceful.

Welfare call escalates into fatal shooting

According to Canterbury District Commander Superintendent Tony Hill, the incident began with a 111 call reporting a man allegedly threatening to harm Pohio and himself with a knife, Stuff reported. After officers arrived, Pohio ran from the house; her partner, who was carrying a hunting knife, followed. He was shot once by an officer armed with a long-barrel assault rifle, Stuff reported.

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As police moved to perform first aid, Pohio allegedly picked up the knife and threatened officers. The same officer fired at her, and the shot was fatal, according to Stuff.

Police response questioned

Mentor Wayne McTague, who met Pohio 18 months earlier, said the shootings raised a key question. “The police knew the history of this couple,” he said to Stuff, “so why did they turn up with guns?”

McTague told Stuff he first encountered Pohio and her partner by chance not long after the pair had allegedly been arrested in an earlier incident. “She was upset because she thought the police had roughed up her partner when they put him in the car, so they arrested her for having a go,” he said to Stuff. “It was a very similar situation to what happened last week.”

A life marked by grief and resilience

Pohio, born Leanne McLean, told McTague about her traumatic childhood and the grief she carried after her 25-year-old son Jesse McLean died by suicide in 2017, Stuff reported. “The pain she carried,” McTague said to Stuff, “was too much for one person. It hurt her deeply.”

She also spoke of the pain of abuse and neglect as a child in state care, Stuff reported. “But she was so hopeful,” McTague said to Stuff. “She had plans to get married.”

Friends told Stuff that Pohio hoped to reconnect with other family members, believed to include two children, and wanted her life to be full of love and peace.

Plans to help others cut short

In June last year, Pohio texted McTague about her aspirations. “I’ve been singing and dancing but ultimately I’d like to speak my testimony and help stop people taking their lives,” she wrote to him, according to Stuff. “It’s a big task but I’ve got massive life skills and ideas to help people. I’d love to talk in schools. I have a lot to offer and I just need doors to open.”

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Friends described her to Stuff as someone who loved to sing, cared deeply for her dogs, and had recently taken up mosaics.

Outside her unit was a scraggly backyard lawn where her dogs ran, an old-fashioned ladies’ bicycle, and a soggy armchair by the door, Stuff reported. In a front window sat a woodwork ornament engraved with the name “Jesse.” Though basic, it was spotless, with a small yellow chick carefully placed beneath the name, according to Stuff.

Neighbor recounts events and aftermath

An elderly neighbor told Stuff he was traumatized after witnessing the incident from his bedroom window. He said he had shared food with Pohio and her partner, describing their relationship as volatile. “That was nothing new,” he said to Stuff, referring to loud arguments and regular police visits, which he estimated occurred every month or so.

He said to Stuff that the relationship had improved recently, though Pohio was struggling as the anniversary of her son’s death approached. Still in shock, he told Stuff he planned to move away to escape the memory of that night and to grieve the friend he had lost.

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Determined to preserve meaning in her life

McTague told Stuff he is also mourning, but is committed to ensuring Pohio’s life has meaning. “Beyond the hurt, her life will not mean nothing,” he said to Stuff, “if I can carry on the joy she experienced.”