Three people have been arrested and a male taken to Dunedin Hospital for X-rays following two separate shootings involving BB guns in Dunedin last night.
In the first incident, police were called to a house on Kaikorai Valley Rd about 7.30pm after a neighbour reported seeing a 16-year-old girl shoot a male, Senior Sergeant Steve Aitken said.
Officers arriving at the house - including one who was armed - arrested the girl, but became embroiled in a "fracas" with two adults at the house, he said.
A 43-year-old man was arrested as a result, and charged with obstruction, while a 39-year-old woman received medical treatment after suffering a panic attack, Snr Sgt Aitken said.
She would also be spoken to about obstruction.
The victim of the shooting, a male of unknown age, was able to walk to a waiting St John ambulance and was taken to Dunedin Hospital for X-rays to locate the BB gun pellet, Snr Sgt Aitken said.
In the second incident, a woman standing beside her car at a BP service station on Cumberland St was struck in the head by a BB gun pellet fired from a nearby house in a "random" attack about 8.45pm, Snr Sgt Aitken said.
Police were called and shortly afterwards arrested a man found at an address across the street from the service station.
It was not known what had caused the first shooting, but the young woman and male were believed to be known to each other, Snr Sgt Aitken said.
While neither incident resulted in serious injury, police had a blunt warning for others: "People using BB guns are committing a serious offence.
"BB guns are not toys.
''They are firearms or weapons and they should be treated by everyone as such, and used safely.
"The potential is they can seriously injure or even kill someone," Snr Sgt Aitken said.
As well, police responding to first reports of firearms being used had to take all necessary precautions, he said.
"When we have the report of someone using a firearm, we don't know generally straight off whether it's a BB gun or [larger] firearm.
"We tend to respond with firearms of our own."
