Stewart Guthrie

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Stewart Graeme Guthrie (born December 22, 1948 in Dunedin , † November 13, 1990 in Aramoana ) was a New Zealand police officer with the rank of sergeant who was shot in the rampage of Aramoana .

Career

Stewart Guthrie grew up with his parents and older brother in Deborah Bay, a small settlement near Port Chalmers in Otago . He attended Port Chalmers Primary School and Otago Boys High School before joining the Royal New Zealand Navy at the age of 16 and serving on the HMNZS ships Blackpool , Endeavor , Canterbury and Waikato . In 1967 he married Sandra Hare and had three children with her: Stewart (* 1970), Sara (* 1971), and Scott (* 1974).

In December 1974 he left the Navy and joined the New Zealand Police in January 1975 , where he initially served in Auckland . In 1985 he was promoted to sergeant and subsequently worked in Dunedin and Port Chalmers. He was also a member of the Armed Offenders Squad .

Rampage

On November 13, 1990, David Malcolm Gray shot and killed twelve residents of the small coastal settlement of Aramoana near Port Chalmers after a neighborhood dispute. Stewart Guthrie was the only police officer on duty in Port Chalmers at the time and was one of the first to arrive at the scene. Guthrie knew the gunman and was familiar with the Aramoana area. Together with a constable he was able to locate the perpetrator at his house, in which he was just starting a fire.

Sergeant Guthrie handed his long gun over to the constable and, armed only with his service revolver, took over the security of the rear of the house. There Guthrie met the fleeing perpetrator, confronted him and fired a warning shot, whereupon the perpetrator opened fire from an assault rifle and mortally injured Guthrie. David Gray died the next day in an exchange of fire with officers from the Special Tactics Group .

Commemoration

On February 18, 1992, Stewart Guthrie was posthumously awarded the George Cross , the highest civilian honor for valor in the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth of Nations. The rampage was made into a film and appeared in 2006 under the title Out of the Blue - 22 hours of fear ; Stewart Guthrie is played by the New Zealand actor William Kircher .

A memorial in Aramoana commemorates the victims of the rampage, and Sergeant Guthrie is commemorated in the New Zealand Police Museum.

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personal data
SURNAME Guthrie, Stewart
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Guthrie, Stewart Graeme; Guthrie, Stu
BRIEF DESCRIPTION New Zealand policeman
DATE OF BIRTH December 22, 1948
PLACE OF BIRTH Dunedin
DATE OF DEATH November 13, 1990
Place of death Aramoana