Hamilton bus incident: Air gun pellet fired at moving bus on Pukete route

The damage from the pellet can clearly be seen. Photo / Imgur

A bus driver has been shot at with an air pellet gun while on a suburban run in Hamilton.

The shot fired last night missed the driver but struck an emergency window directly behind his seat, shattering it, the driver's child said in a post to social media platform reddit.

No one was hurt in the 5.45pm incident but the pellet almost struck their father, the person wrote.

"The shooters were intentionally aiming at the driver but it missed and hit the emergency window directly behind the driver seat's side. The shot came from a house across the road while my dad drove past."

Go Bus spokesman Russell Turnbull confirmed the incident, which he said occurred on the Pukete route.

"The driver is fine. He is back at work today."

Five or six passengers were aboard the bus at the time, Turnbull said.

The window was broken, but the glass was held in place by a protective film during the incident, which he described as "rare".

Police confirmed they attended the incident and found something had struck the bus window but not gone through the glass.

"We have checked to see if there is any CCTV footage available, but there is no camera service in the area where this happened," a spokeswoman said.

The driver told police they didn't see anything, but heard a sound just before the window cracked.

Anyone with information which could help can contact police, quoting event number P050322760, she said.

The person who posted on reddit couldn't immediately be reached but wrote that the dangerous act "infuriates me".

"He could have been shot because he had his windows open while driving the bus and the bullet hit the window directly behind him.

"I understand air pellets are marginally different to real guns, but they can cause serious harm and injury, especially if it hits in the face or critical parts of the human body."

The pellet shattered the emergency exit window on the bus. Photo / Imgur

Their father saw a couple of people ducking and weaving behind curtains as soon as he realised what had happened, the poster wrote.

"He said he could clearly see them as it was quite dark and the lights were on in their house.

"I am extremely angry and disappointed because never in my life since living in NZ, which is advertised in the world as a safe country, would I have ever thought my loved ones would be shot at."