Kneejerk Expected from Double Homicide

Police were called to Harold Holt Ave, Napier at 12.25am after residents reported hearing gunshots. A woman was found dead on the footpath with gunshot wounds. A man was found nearby, still alive, but with similar injuries. The man was rushed to hospital, but died soon after being admitted.  Detective Senior Sergeant Tony Dewhirst said that it was too early  to say if anyone else was involved, and police were not currently looking for anyone else in connection with the shooting.
(Report compiled from Stuff, Newstalk ZB and TVNZ)

This sounds too much like a double homicide.  A man and a women who both died from bullet wounds, and found lying on the sidewalk by Police in the early hours of the morning.  :( It's hard to comprehend, two people coughing out their last breaths, lying on the cold hard tarceal outside their home while, about 700km south, I was blithely going about my life here in Christchurch.

The inevitable knee-jerk reaction will come, a public outcry followed up by proposals of further tightening of our gun-laws.  Instead of focussing on the crime of the murderer, the Government is likely to look into passing some new legislation which will punish everyone else in New Zealand who didn't commit the murder.  It's quite simple, find the low-life who did this, and hang him.

Google News will keep you updated on this tragic case.

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Update (3/8/08):
- Case may be homicide/suicide - NZ Herald
- Police have identified the victims as 61 year old Stephen Webby and 39 year old Annette Pollock. - Newstalk ZB