This much is certain: On Oct. 14, 1981, a teenager armed with a .22 rifle went to the fifth floor of a building in Dunedin, New Zealand, during a visit by Queen Elizabeth II and her husband, Prince Philip.

When the royals stepped out of their Rolls-Royce to greet thousands of well-wishers on the street, the gunman, Christopher John Lewis, 17, a self-described terrorist who was hiding in a deserted toilet cubicle, trained his rifle on the queen and fired.

He missed.

The Guardian said “it may be the closest anyone has ever come to assassinating Queen Elizabeth II.” Decades later, questions about whether the New Zealand police and government had covered up the seriousness of the crime still linger.

The New Zealand police announced this past week that they would re-examine the case because of the public interest. In an email, a police spokesman said that Commissioner Mike Bush had assigned a deputy commissioner, Mike Clement, to oversee the inquiry:

“Given the passage of time, it is anticipated this examination of the old file and its associated material will take some time. NZ Police will share the outcome of this examination once it has been completed,” the statement said.