Armed police swarmed on Te Teko in response to reports of gunshots and a patched gang member with a firearm.
Police were called to the Eastern Bay settlement about 3.20pm yesterday and set up cordons on Te Teko, Okaahu and Powell Rds and checked all vehicles, including their boots, leaving the cordoned area. Cars were stopped from entering the roads.
The Daily Post witnessed firearms, not believed to be related to the incident, being taken from one car and a person being processed for drink driving.
Members of the Tauranga police armed offenders squad swarmed into Te Teko just after 5pm. A truck and at least five police cars were parked outside the Te Teko police station as officers were briefed on the afternoon's events. Locals, including many youngsters, gathered at the shops across the road from the police station to watch the action.
Local police and AOS members then drove to a house on Te Teko Rd about 400m past the cordon. After 30 minutes they began to leave but media were not allowed to drive past the house.
Across the road a number of patched gang members were gathered on the front lawn of a house.
Sergeant Denis Foster of the Whakatane police later said members of the public reported shots being fired and a patched gang member being seen with a firearm at a house in Te Teko.
The Tauranga AOS secured the area and searched a property. No firearms were found.
Mr Foster said Te Teko police were making further inquiries but so far no arrests had been made.
A Te Teko resident, who did not want to be named, told The Daily Post the shooting had taken place in Huia Cres in Te Teko.
He said a car had driven into Huia Cres and had shot at a known gang member's home while children were playing nearby. As the car left a retaliatory shot had been fired.
A post on Facebook suggested the shot had hit the car. It asked how the f*****s liked their car and said shotguns make big holes.
The same person on Facebook said shots had been fired in the same area a week before, but in the middle of the night.
By Katee Shanks of The Daily Post
