Shotguns, machetes in gang brawl

Shotguns and machetes were used in a large brawl in Lower Hutt’s Stokes Valley yesterday afternoon, say witnesses. Social media users said the fight took place on George St near Delaney Park and gunshots could be heard by members of the public nearby.

Police were called about 3.45pm yesterday and searched nearby houses in an attempt to find those involved in the fight.

A spokesperson said armed police were also there as a precaution and cordons had been put in place.

One woman said the fight took place near the intersection with Speedy St.

“Huge group fighting in the park and over the road. Shotguns and machetes. Quiet now but still wouldn’t risk it,” the woman wrote.

Another woman told Newstalk ZB she saw about a dozen gang members fighting and heard “bangs” but didn’t see any guns.

However, she did see some machetes during the incident.

“We heard some yelling, we thought it was a sports event so we went outside and there were about 10 to 15 Mongrel Mob members in the park,” she said.

“They were yelling at a group of people . . . it was quite aggressive then we heard some bangs and some cars took off.”

The woman said members of the public walked out on to the street to watch the fight unfold.

“[Those fighting] were really aggressive . . . it’s not the first time this has happened, we’ve got young children so it feels like a really unsafe neighbourhood,” the woman said.

Last year there were two gangrelated shootings on nearby Hanson Grove.

In early October, a man was shot by someone driving past. Police first received calls about gunfire near midnight before they received multiple calls about more gunshots going off in the valley.

And in early December, a 39-yearold man was shot on the same street and taken to hospital with non-life threatening injuries.