A woman is believed to have rejected a man's advances in the days before he allegedly turned up at her workplace and fired his rifle near her.
The alleged gunman, who now faces a charge of attempted murder, was wrestled to the ground by two "heroic" colleagues ofthe woman at a Nelson Placemakers store on Tuesday.
The pair managed to hold the man for several minutes before police arrived.
Their actions have been described as heroic by Nelson police area commander, Inspector Brian McGurk.
A 44-year-old man appeared in the Nelson District Court yesterday facing charges of attempted murder, using a firearm in the commission of a crime, drink-driving and driving while disqualified.
He is also facing two charges of trespass and another charge of disqualified driving relating to a previous incident.
Mr McGurk said the woman attacked knew the alleged gunman but had no relationship with him.
Investigations were continuing and further charges against the man, in relation to other alleged approaches he made, were possible.
Placemakers also praised the courageous actions of its two staff members yesterday.
General manager of human resources Jo Martell said: "Our main concern at this point is the welfare of the Placemakers staff and the small number of customers who were in the store at the time".
Support was being offered to anyone who was affected. Part of the store was reopened yesterday.
