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Northland police arrested a 24-year-old man in Whangārei after police were shot during a chase this morning.
Police are investigating after a patrol was shot at in Whangārei.
Photo: RNZ / Dan Cook
Northland police arrested the 24-year-old in the city without incident this afternoon. Tomorrow he will appear in district court on various charges, including firearms offenses.
Northland District Commander Superintendent Tony Hill said in a statement: “Police hope this arrest will bring some reassurance to the Whangārei community. We would like to thank you for your support in our investigation today.”
Officers will no longer temporarily carry firearms in the area.
What happened
Police said several shots were fired at a patrol car after a vehicle fled from a police checkpoint on Te Hononga Street in Ōtāngarei.
Two people were in the vehicle that stopped at the police checkpoint at 2.13 a.m. but sped away before police could speak to the driver, police said.
Police said the acting sergeant followed the vehicle on a patrol car and started a chase when it failed to stop, and shortly thereafter the male driver fired into the air.
The vehicle then stopped and the driver fired multiple shots at the officer, but none of them hit the patrol car and the officer was not injured, police said.
It comes after a female police officer was shot south of Kerikeri last month.
In that case, a gunshot damaged the patrol’s windshield, but the officer escaped unharmed.
