Armed police swoop on house

Police last night failed to find an alleged gunman after swooping on a house in Northland.

A large-scale, multi-agency operation across Mangawhai and Kaiwaka has not turned up Joshua Kite, who has been missing since Friday after allegedly opening fire on two unarmed police officers in a Whangarei street and stealing their vehicle, carjacking another and fleeing south to Maungaturoto.

Police entered a home on Brown Rd, north of the two settlements last night.

A cordon was set up on the road and several loud bangs were heard by reporters at the scene. It is not clear if they were gunshots or tear gas.

A police spokeswoman said the search was completed and Kite wasn’t found.

They asked anyone who saw Kite to call 111 immediately.

Fire crews and ambulance had also been at the scene and a helicop-

I thought someone would come and say something to us . . . it’s really rural here. Resident John Treadaway

ter circled overhead.

Earlier yesterday, on Mountain Rd in nearby Kaiwaka, residents reported seeing police patrols cars, dog handlers, members of the armed offenders squad and ambulances.

A Mountain Rd resident, John Treadaway, said there were about 10 police cars stopping vehicles going through.

However, police didn’t tell residents why they were there, he said.

“I thought someone would come and say something to us . . . it’s really rural here.”

Police on Friday focused their operation on Kaiwaka and surrounding districts after Kite allegedly opened fire.

He has a history of criminal offences including convictions for three major armed robberies in Auckland in 2007.

Earlier yesterday, police vehicles were spotted driving up State Highway 1, in the Dome Valley, Warkworth and Wellsford areas.