The son of a prominent Tauranga man has been charged after allegedly shooting at people and fleeing police yesterday. The 36-year-old was granted interim name suppression when he appeared in the Tauranga District Court this afternoon. The accused did not seek bail and was remanded in custody. He was scheduled to reappear in the same court on October 24, but may come back sooner for a bail application.
Police have said they were initially called to reports of a person being shot at in Bethlehem, then pursued a suspect to central Tauranga.
The vehicle was spiked and stopped near the Tauranga Police Station, where police allege the driver got out of the vehicle with a gun.
Officers used non-lethal sponge rounds and a Taser to end the incident.
The man was taken into custody and treated for minor injuries.
He faces 10 driving and firearms charges.
The most serious included two of shooting at individuals with the intent to do grievous bodily harm.
He was also charged with two counts of wounding a third person with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.
Those charges each carry a maximum sentence of 14 years in prison.
His other firearms charges were unlawfully possessing a shotgun, a prohibited Stevens Westfield .22 LR rifle, two 12-gauge shotgun cartridges and seven .22 rounds.
The driving charges included reckless driving on Willow St in Tauranga and failing to stop for police.
– Additional reporting Samantha Motion, Ayla Yeoman
Hannah Bartlett is a Tauranga-based Open Justice reporter at NZME. She previously covered court and local government for the Nelson Mail, and before that was a radio reporter at Newstalk ZB.
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