Police shoot man in city
A Cantabrian 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, 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 because he pulled out this gun.
‘‘He pulled the gun from out of his side window and took a couple of shots,’’ the witness said.
Superintendent John Price, Canterbury District Commander, said the man was wanted by police and failed to stop on Breezes Rd, Shirley, about 7.20pm.
The grey Holden was stopped by road spikes and came to a stop about 5km away on Eveleyn Couzins Ave.
Police said the man presented a firearm, believed to be a shotgun, and fired at them. Police shot back and the suspect was shot in the lower body.
He was taken to Christchurch Hospital with serious injuries and was under armed police guard late last night.
‘‘Our police staff come to work every day to ensure the safety of the public and no officer should ever be put in this position.’’
Police officers have been offered support after the incident.
St John spokesman Gerard Campbell confirmed a man was taken to Christchurch Hospital with critical injuries.
Nearby resident Vaughan McLean said he saw a car, closely followed by four police cars, lose a tyre as it turned into Eveleyn Couzins Ave off North Avon Rd about 7.30pm.
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 . . . [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.
Mathew Roberts said he was in the lounge of his apartment when he heard a car crash, then shooting soon after.
He saw four or five police cars and several officers with their guns drawn.
It appeared they were trading shots with a man, he said.
Roberts then went to the other side of his apartment and saw a bleeding man lying on the ground. He had heard about eight shots, he said.
Nearby resident Sonny Singh said he heard ‘‘continuous shooting’’ on the street.
‘‘It sounded like fire crackers going off . . . It was really scary. It was horrible.’’
He said people could hear the shots from about 1km away and had all come out of their homes.
The incident was the second police shooting in New Zealand within a week. Patched Mongrel Mob member Astin Cruz Hooper, 29, was shot by police on Thursday after robbing a bank in Kawerau, Bay of Plenty. He was given first aid, but died at the scene.