A man has been charged after an alleged paintball gun drive-by shooting spree through Dunedin in which he shot at two 14-year-old boys.
The 19-year-old was arrested at 6.30pm on Friday, after firing the weapon out of a car window in John Wilson Ocean Dr.
Senior Sergeant Craig Dinnissen said one of the boys had two welts on his back after the incident.
It was lucky police were able to distinguish the weapons were paintball guns and not firearms, he said.
"If we couldn't, it would have been an AOS callout. Things can escalate hugely.
"What was going through his brain at the time? If anything actually was.''
The charge would mostly likely be assault with a weapon, Snr Sgt Dinnissen said.
Police were making further inquiries into the driver of the car, who could also be culpable.
Police were working to connect the incident with another that day in which three Ritchies tour buses were struck by paintball guns in Ravensbourne shortly after 3pm, which impaired driver visibility.
Police were "pretty confident'' they were connected, Snr Sgt Dinnissen said.
