‘Senseless violence’: Two people injured after shooting in Gisborne, four arrested after police pursuit

Two people were injured after the vehicle they were in was shot at on Valley Rd, Mangapapa. Photo / Google Maps

Four people have been arrested in Gisborne after gunshots were fired at a house and a car late last night.

Police were called to Taruheru Crescent in Mangapapa at around 11.45pm after reports of several shots being fired at a house from a car.

Tairāwhiti Area Commander Danny Kirk said the occupants of the same car then fired one or two shots at another car in Valley Rd in Mangapapa.

Two people in the car were injured, one of them seriously.

Police located the car in Lytton Rd and signalled for the driver to stop but he fled.

Kirk said police pursued the car through the Elgin area before pulling it over near the intersection of Awapuni Rd and Lytton Rd.

Inspector Daniel Kirk said the violent incident could have led to one or more fatalities. "This has to stop," he said. Photo / Gisborne Herald

There were four people in the car – males aged 15, 16, 28 and 36. They have been charged with discharging a firearm with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.

Further charges were likely, Kirk said. Police had also seized a firearm and other items thrown from the car during the police chase.

“My message to all involved in this kind of offending is that this has to stop,” Kirk said.

“Two people were injured as a result of the shots fired at the house – one seriously – and we could very easily have been dealing with one or more fatalities.“

“I want to acknowledge my frontline officers, who made a conscious decision to put themselves in harm’s way to apprehend those involved in this senseless violence.”

The four people who were arrested will appear in the Gisborne District Court tomorrow.

*This story has been updated after police corrected an earlier statement that the injured people were in a house.