Teenager Izak Millanta ran through an alleyway into the darkness chased by two men.

Minutes later police found the 17-year-old unconscious in a car park at Coastlands Mall, Paraparaumu, north of Wellington with only a graze on his head.

Paramedics had to resuscitate him at the scene before rushing him to Wellington Hospital in a critical condition shortly after 3am yesterday.

He underwent emergency surgery and last night remained on life support.

It is understood his mother is flying from Taiwan to be at his side. His family have been told he is not going to make it.

Specialist investigators dressed in blue boiler suits yesterday searched two cordoned areas for clues - one where the teenager was found and another near where the incident unfolded.

Spots of blood were marked with orange cones.

Detective Inspector Mike Johnson said Millanta had been drinking and was involved in an altercation near Retro Bar before he was found unconscious.

Fifteen police were working on the investigation, he said. No arrests had been made, but a number of people were being questioned.

"We are making inquiries in relation to CCTV footage and whether it covers the appropriate areas which may give us a clue."

Josephine Tukaki-Millanta said last night her grandson was on his way home from a friend's place when he was involved in an altercation.

Millanta was chased and then attacked, Tukaki-Millanta said. "There's a lot of internal injuries there."

Her grandson was a former pupil of Kapiti College and Wellington High School, she said.

"He was a good kid with us, but you don't know what kids are doing behind your back."

Teenagers spoken to at the scene yesterday said Millanta was well known and "easy to get along with".

"He wouldn't have gone out asking for a fight, but if he was confronted he would have stood his ground," a 17-year-old man said.

"It's shocking. I'm still getting over the fact it's happened here. Everyone has their scraps, but nothing like this has happened before."

Johnson said yesterday police had been called to trouble outside the Retro Bar previously.

"[It is] an area of interest to us. We've had some altercations and incidents there previously."

A cafe owner said shop fronts in the area had been damaged recently by people who had been drinking at Retro Bar. She was already beefing up security at her cafe before the incident.

Retro Bar manager David Aitken said the men involved in yesterday's incident had been refused entry to the bar earlier in the evening because they had breached the liquor ban. Aitken denied allegations the bar was behind problems in the area.

"Our customers don't cause any problems. It's people drinking in the car park."

When found, Millanta was wearing a blue and beige checked shirt with a white T-shirt underneath, blue jeans, light brown boots and a black woollen hat.

- © Fairfax NZ News