Gunman injured in police shootout

A father jumped over a fence and shielded his daughter with his body as a wanted man traded shots with police in suburban Christchurch last night.

The man was shot by police on Eveleyn Couzins Ave, Richmond, just before 7.30pm after opening fire on officers with what is believed to be a shotgun.

A resident said they heard about eight shots fired, while another person said they saw a man pointing a firearm out of a car window.

‘‘He was driving up here and I saw him pull out a gun out of the side of the car and he fired a couple of shots at the police car so they had to shoot him.’’

Canterbury District Commander Superintendent John Price said the man was wanted by police and failed to stop on Breezes Rd, Shirley, about 7.20pm.

The grey Holden car was stopped by road spikes and came to a halt about 5km away on Eveleyn Couzins Ave.

Police said the man presented a firearm, believed to be a shotgun, and fired at police. Police shot back and the offender was shot in the lower body.

He was taken to Christchurch Hospital with serious injuries and is under armed police guard.

Nearby resident Vaughan McLean said he saw a car, closely followed by four police cars, lose one of its tyres as it turned into Eveleyn Couzins Ave.

He said he grabbed his daughter and jumped over a fence as police shot at the vehicle.

‘‘We came running out to have a look . . . they [police] were firing . . . whether it was shrapnel off the road flicking past us or whatever but it was really close and you could hear it hitting our fences and bouncing off the house. We could feel them flying past us.’’

He said he lay on the lawn with his daughter underneath him until the gunshots stopped, before running back inside.

The incident was the second police shooting in New Zealand within a week. Mongrel Mob member Astin Cruz Hooper, 29, died after being shot by police on Thursday following a bank robbery.