Guns on our street

MICHELLE ROBINSON

AN ARMED offenders squad callout in Glenfield this week is the third within three months.

Squad personnel camped outside a Glenfield Rd house near James St and Hogans Rd most of Monday after neighbours reported hearing a gunshot.

On Tuesday police checked a report of a man in his early 20s visiting a Waitakere medical centre with shotgun injuries early Monday afternoon.

Police suspect that a shot was fired, North Shore area commander inspector Les Paterson says. The occupants of two adjoining addresses and the driver and passenger of a vehicle are assisting with inquiries, he says.

"We've got the house completely surrounded," a police negotiator was heard yelling through a loudhailer outside the property.

The address was cleared and two women were escorted away by police.

Two SUVs with armed police hanging off the side drove up James St through the cordon shortly afterwards.

They were followed by four police cars.

Residents were told to stay indoors and cordons remained in place throughout the morning. An ambulance and police Eagle helicopter were also in the area.

Neighbour Steven Palmer says the action was centred on a home down a long driveway and a car parked outside.

"They were pointing their guns at the boot of the car until one of them opened it."

The incident is the third in the area since June.

A 29-year-old man was arrested at McFetridge Place in Hillcrest in June after neighbours' reports of him stalking the street with a replica Bushmaster rifle and protective clothing on more than one occasion. Schools were put in lockdown as police cordoned the area and appealed for the offender to turn himself in.

In early August, King Cobras gang member Daniel Vae was arrested at a Waverley Ave house in Glenfield.

Auckland police said Vae went into hiding after they failed to find him in a dawn raid at his Auckland home where drug paraphernalia and a gun were found.

In a separate incident, a Glenfield meth lab was busted and a resident charged after major raids across much of the North Island.

- © Fairfax NZ News