Gun scare closes roads

BY RANDALL WALKER

Police locked down parts of Waikanae in Kapiti on Tuesday as the Armed Offenders Squad swooped on a residential house.

Stunned Walton Ave residents found armed, armour-clad police in their backyards at about 1.30pm on an otherwise quiet day. They were told to stay inside as the AOS surrounded a house on the street.

Police blocked Walton Ave to pedestrians and motorists for about two hours, evacuated the croquet club on Park Ave, and instructed both Waikanae schools to keep children from the affected areas behind and only allow others to leave with their parents. Waikanae school buses were also rerouted.

Police closed Te Moana Rd for about 10 minutes as they rushed on a car and arrested two men at gunpoint. A young girl, reportedly the daughter of one of the occupants, was escorted from the car and walked to a family friend.

Police said they received information at about 1.30pm that two people had pulled up in a car outside a Walton Ave house and gone inside, one allegedly carrying a shotgun and a rifle. Walton Ave was cordoned off and the Wellington's armed offender squad, which were on a training exercise in Porirua, brought in.

The heavily armed AOS members crawled through back yards, surrounding the house and calling for the occupants to come out, said residents.

At about 3.45pm, while they were still surrounding the house, police saw the car in question driving east on Te Moana Rd and swooped. Witnesses said they heard police on a loudspeaker telling them to get inside and then saw police stop the car at gunpoint and order two men to get out and lie on the ground, where they were handcuffed.

The passenger had tried to get the young girl out of the car and was told to take his hands off her, they said.

A 50-year-old Otaki man and his 17-year-old son, a Waikanae man, were taken to the station, questioned and later released without charge, said Detective Sergeant Ian Martin.

The house was later searched and no people or firearms were found. An air rifle was found inside and seized.

A neighbour said he heard banging and yelling in the house as it was searched.

About 15 Kapiti and Porirua Police staff and a similar number of AOS were involved.

Police were initially concerned the reported firearms could have been those stolen from an Otaki house in a burglary the day before. Mr Martin said the investigation would continue.

- Kapiti Observer