When a routine search warrant goes suddenly wrong, an ordinary man becomes a hero. Produced by Anneke Smith.

Bullets fly in Napier as an everyday police operation turns unexpectedly deadly.

"That's when I grabbed the barrel and swung it away."

It's been ten years since Lenny Holmwood was shot by his mate but he remembers it like it was yesterday.

Lying on the cool pavement of Napier's Hospital Hill he could see bullets spark as they hit the concrete and hear the cries of wounded police officers.

It was here, enveloped in chaos, he sent a famous text about his cat Scrappy that marked perhaps the only light moment of the Napier Siege.

'Jan busted. Three cops shot. Me leg. Can you feed Scrappy?'

What ensued was a 51-hour standoff between police and gunman Jan Molenaar after a routine search warrant went horribly wrong.

How it started

7 May 2009 was a crisp autumn morning when Senior Constables Grant Diver, Bruce Miller and Len Snee knocked on the door of 41 Chaucer Road. They suspected Molenaar was running a small dope growing operation so, search warrant in hand, they knocked on his door. Molenaar's partner, Delwyn Keefe, let them into the house. Lenny isn't far behind them; popping over for a cup of tea after a boozy night out.

Molenaar was out walking his dog and by the time he returned, the police officers had found cannabis plants and a sawn-off shotgun in his basement. Lenny is with Delwyn in the kitchen when Molenaar arrives home and the situation kicks off.

In Lenny's words, "it exploded".

Molenaar becomes immediately angry and disappears down the hallway; returning with a rifle, he orders everyone out of the house. Outside, things seem to have de-escalated. But in fact, they've only just started. Jan Molenaar's eye follow Constable Snee as he reaches the roadside.

As the police officer turns to face the house, Molenaar takes aim with his telescopic rifle and shoots. Lenny watches in horror as Constable Miller is hit in the back and a bullet tears through Diver's forearm, lodging in his stomach.

Lenny's memory gets patchy here, there are seconds and movements he's lost over the years, but the next thing he remembers is Jan Molenaar standing in front of him.

"I heard the moans of the officers up the road. I looked at them over my shoulder and as I looked back the barrel was swinging past me towards them."…

Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details