Afternoon Headlines | Kids cut off at Banks Peninsula, review of powers over aggressive dogs and police probe Tauranga man’s death | Tuesday, February 18, 2026
A man has been charged with presenting a firearm after a shot was allegedly fired at occupants of a boat from another vessel on Auckland’s Waitematā Harbour.
Armed police officers boarded a boat in the harbour yesterday after reports were received of a firearm being discharged by a boatie inthe harbour’s upper reaches, north of Hobsonville Point, about 9.30am.
Police said the incident had escalated from an altercation between the two vessels’ occupants on the open water.
Having taken the man into custody while seizing “an item of interest” from the vessel, police have now confirmed an air rifle was located onboard.
A 68-year-old man has been charged with presenting a firearm, and was due to appear in the Waitākere District Court on February 23.
Yesterday Inspector Peter Raynes confirmed there were no injuries following the incident, but the police Eagle helicopter was sent to scour the harbour for the launch from which the shots were fired.
Police said an air rifle was found on the launch after it was boarded by the Armed Offenders Squad. Photo / NZME
After the vessel was found, the Armed Offenders Squad was called in and transported across the harbour in one of the Police Maritime Unit’s rigid-hulled inflatable boats.
The squad boarded the launch, Raynes said, where they took a man into custody without incident.
