Armed offender incident in Hanmer

Armed police are responding to a firearms incident on a rural stretch of Hanmer Springs Rd in Canterbury. Photo/Google Maps

The Armed Offenders Squad is responding to reports of a gunman in Hanmer in Canterbury tonight.

Police were called around 9.30pm to the incident. A local told Newstalk ZB they counted 13 police cars heading north on the motorway out of Christchurch.

A police spokesman confirmed the AOS was responding to a firearms incident in Hanmer.

The incident is understood to have unfolded on Hanmer Springs Rd, between Lewis Pass Rd and Medway Rd.

The stretch of State Highway 7A next to the Waiau River is largely uninhabited but there are several lodges in the vicinity.