Police seize guns from gang house in Highbury
A cache of guns has been found at a gang house after its occupants fired upon neighbouring properties with a slug gun.
Armed police raided the twostorey unit in Opie Place, Highbury, Palmerston North, just after 6.20am yesterday.
It was reported a man was firing a slug gun at a car from a window of the property about that time, Sergeant Kaine Austin said.
Neighbours in the small street were advised to stay in their houses and keep down.
Two men at the house were arrested, but one was released without charge.
The other, 31-year-old Hayden Hakaraia, appeared in the Palmerston North District Court charged with unlawful possession of two shotguns and ammunition.
He was kept in custody until September and declined interim name suppression.
Four women and five young children, including babies, were removed from the house during the search.
They huddled in the frosty street wrapped in blankets and were guarded by a policewoman while the search was carried out.
‘‘It’s a known gang address. We found a slug gun and a number of other firearms and shotgun ammunition,’’ Austin said.
The weapons were seized, but he would not give details of how many or what type they were. Indentations from slug gun pellets were found in nearby buildings.
Occupants at the house declined to comment, but a woman said the raid was embarrassing and it was ‘‘just a BB gun’’.
A neighbour, who asked not to be named, said he had been shot with a slug gun in the middle of his chest.
He believed it was from another, associated house. He did not report it to police. Another neighbour, who also asked not to be named, said he was stunned and angry to hear guns were found so close to his home. After police left, he looked over the slug gun pellet marks visible metres from his backyard.
‘‘I didn’t know they had guns over there.
‘‘I’ve got great-grandchildren living here.
‘‘They come and visit me here – guns.’’
Austin said police could not comment further while the matter was before the court, but they were continuing to make inquiries into the incident.