Police fired at man 'a number of times'

The man shot last night is understood to have lived in this caravan down a right-of-way. Photo / Natalie Slade

A West Auckland man was fired at "a number of times" by two armed police officers when they went to arrest him on an alleged charge of arson last night.

Waitemata area commander superintendent Bill Searle said police armed themselves before going to the man's house based on information they had received, but he refused to go into details.

Asked if the man had gang connections, Mr Searle declined to comment.

Mr Searle said eight police officers went to the man's home at 6pm last night when an "altercation occurred" and police used their tasers.

Mr Searle said the tasers had no effect and the man then pointed a gun at them before two police oficers "fired their police weapons at the man".

He said he couldn't be sure if the man fired his gun at any time during the incident.

The man's gun "appeared to be an air rifle, but obviously it will have to be formally examined," said Mr Searle.

The man will face one charge of assault.

Mr Searle said senior investigators from outside the Waitemata police district will lead an investigation into the shooting, and declined to answer further questions from media this afternoon.

The 38-year-old man was taken to hospital in a serious condition after being shot in the stomach when the execution of an arrest warrant erupted into violence and sent a New Lynn street into lockdown last night.

Police go to west Auckland address

Late last night, police said they had gone to the Nikau St address about 6pm to arrest the man over an alleged arson.

"On arrival at a caravan located beside the address the man has confronted police. A brief verbal altercation has occurred. A police taser was fired by one of the officers but was not effective," Mr Searle said.

He said the man pulled a gun on police but it is still not clear if the man fired a shot before he was shot by police.

Mr Searle confirmed that the police officers already had guns issued to them when they arrived at the New Lynn address.

The man is understood to have lived in the caravan alongside six blocks of two units down a right-of-way.

Police spokesman Kev Loughlin said police are not revealing what hospital the man has been taken to but that he is in a "stable condition" this morning.

He said discussions over a court hearing date have not yet taken place.

A spokesman for the Auckland District Health Board confirmed the man is in Auckland Hospital.

He said the man is in a "serious but stable condition" and is improving.

"Police experts will be seeking to establish why the taser was not effective and whether the circumstances were technical or otherwise," Mr Searle said.

"I am relieved that no police officers were hurt or injured in this incident. The officers however are shaken by their experience," he said.

Mr Searle said senior officers from outside the Waitemata police district will carry out an investigation into the shooting.

Former All Black nearby, neighbours shocked

Former All Black Sione Lauaki was attending a family get-together a few houses down from where the gunman lived.

A cousin of the Chiefs player, Tupou Fisi'ilose, said the family were having a farewell dinner for Lauaki, who leaves for Tonga today, when the gunfight erupted.

A neighbour said four shots were fired in quick succession, followed by screaming and shouting.

"There was a man's and a woman's voice, but I couldn't hear what they were saying."

She said she and other neighbours went outside but police ordered them to go back behind closed doors.

From inside, she could hear dogs barking and saw police moving around with a searchlight.

"It's really shaken me up. I've lived in the US before and heard gunshots, but never this close."

She said other police arrived within three minutes of the shots. "I've never seen anything move so fast."

Lance Brett, who lives in the same block of units, said he was watching wrestling on television when he heard shots ring out.

"Police arrived next door, then I heard shots. I didn't know if it was a Taser or gunshots."

Mr Brett said the people living at the address had been in trouble before with the police and were known in the neighbourhood. "They've been causing trouble for a while."

Neighbour Christopher Harris said his wife heard four "pops" and thought it was someone hammering, then quickly realised they were gunshots.

Mr Harris, who has two young sons, said there had been domestic disturbances at the address before but nothing that suggested something so serious could happen.

"It's a worry. It makes you think twice about where you live," he said.

Another resident said the shot man was "well known to locals, he's well known to police and he knows the inside of a cell".

The man had been arrested there before. On a previous occasion, residents watched as he tried to run but officers were waiting behind a fence and handcuffed him.

"There's a few who won't be sorry to see he's in strife," a source said.

It's understood the man's brother stayed with him in the caravan from time to time.

Last night, some residents huddled in their cars after they were prevented from returning to their homes by a police cordon.

People from the block of flats sat on a fence while they were questioned by officers before being driven away in a police car.

Mr Searle said the incident had been reported to the Independent Police Conduct Authority.

Incident shows police must be armed, says Police Association

Last night's drama follows the shooting of Senior Constable Bruce Lamb and Constable Mitchel Alatalo in Christchurch last week - and the death of police dog Gage.

That incident - which came after the officers smelled cannabis during a routine inquiry - sparked renewed calls from the Police Association for officers to be routinely armed.

Commissioner Howard Broad said guns would be made more readily accessible under proposed changes to police policy by the end of the year.

Association president Greg O'Connor welcomed that last week, but warned it would ultimately mean more people getting shot.

He said if the Christchurch officers had shot someone last week, there would have been "a massive outcry in the media about why did the police need to shoot them, and that's where we just need to grow up as a country".

New Zealanders needed to stop "getting squeamish" about firearms and "get squeamish" about officers getting shot, he said.

Mr O'Connor said the current system - where one or two designated shift sergeants had guns locked in their cars - was fine when police had warning. "But the problem is all these shootings are coming out of nothing."

Two officers have been shot dead and seven others have been injured in New Zealand over the past two years.

- with NZ Herald staff