Gun toting burglars in Porirua

Two men have blasted their way into a Porirua service station with a shotgun, and then tried to use the gun to access a safe.

The incident happened about 2am when three men drove to the station, which was closed and unoccupied.

"Two of the males got out of the car and fired a shotgun to shatter the store's front window," Detective James Withington said.

"They fired a second round while inside the store while attempting to access the safe before driving away."

Mr Withington said the burglars failed to get into the safe, and took nothing from the station.

"They were obviously goal orientated on the safe," he said.

Police from across the Wellington district are helping Porirua detectives, including looking at whether the burglary was a one-off or potentially linked to other crimes.

The burglars were using a vehicle stolen 15 minutes earlier from the Porirua suburb of Whitby. It was later torched near the waterski club on Grays Rd, Camborne.

The descriptions of two of the suspects are:

- European, or light-skinned Maori/Pacific Islander, wearing a blue and white hooded sweatshirt with horizontal stripes on the body and vertical stripes on the hood. He also wore a greenish-grey balaclava with large eye holes, red dishwashing gloves, dark blue jeans, black shoes with white soles. He carried a black bag.

- European, or light-skinned Maori/Pacific Islander, wearing blue/grayish raincoat, black balaclava, black gloves, gold coloured watch on right wrist, dark blue jeans and white shoes.

Porirua police would also like to speak with witnesses, including the possibility of nearby residents or early morning workers - such as delivery, transport and service industry staff - who might have been in the area.

- © Fairfax NZ News