Axeman injured in shooting
An axe-wielding man shot in the torso escaped serious injury when the bullet only clipped him.
Armed police swarmed the streets of Palmerston North on Monday afternoon after the incident, which left roads shut and nearby schools on high alert.
By evening, police said they were probing ‘‘what appears to be a suspected shooting’’ in the suburb of Awapuni, but they would not confirm an incident had taken place or if the gunman was still on the run.
A man was injured in the incident and was taken to Palmerston North Hospital, where he was discharged with minor to moderate injuries later the same day.
One of the men at the College St house where the shooting took place about 2pm said occupants had worried for weeks about people stalking around the house at night.
Three men were there on Monday afternoon, when one went outside, carrying an axe, to check on people they noticed sitting in a car on the street, he said.
‘‘I was in the kitchen ... when I got out there he [my mate] had the axe in his hand, he threw the axe, and then a fella pulled a gun and got my mate.’’
It was a shotgun, he said. Two shots were fired, striking the man with the axe in the abdomen, his friend said.
‘‘He’s a big fella, he’s alright. He said, ‘I think he clipped me’, and then I saw blood.
‘‘I said, ‘Jump in the f ...... car, I’m going to take you to hospital’, and he said ‘nah, you haven’t got a licence.’’
Another friend there at the time drove the injured man to the hospital. His friend said he was concerned the incident had taken place at a house where a young girl and woman lived.
Those involved knew each other, he said, and he was unhappy police had searched the house afterwards.
‘‘We’re the victims here.’’
Cordons, set up around the College St and Botanical Rd intersection shortly after the incident, were lifted just after 4pm. They stretched near West End School and Awatapu College.
A police spokeswoman said the two schools in the area were warned of the incident, but were not in lockdown. Shortly after 3pm, West End School staff were directing pupils away from the cordon. ‘‘We need to make sure everyone stays safe,’’ a staff member said. Alida Parker was waiting at the cordon on Botanical Rd and College St for word of her 4-yearold son.
She said Lovely Lotus Childcare, where he went, was right in the middle of the cordonedoff area, directly across from where most of the police were gathered.
‘‘It’s so close, way too close for comfort. They’re usually inside around this time so that’s lucky.’’