Police are still trying to determine what was behind shotgun blasts that injured a man and two women in Palmerston North early today.
Thirty police are trying to pin down what happened during two incidents, one of which ended with shots fired in trouble-plagued suburban Highbury.
Rheon Albert, 27, from Palmerston North, appeared in court this afternoon charged with three counts of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.
He was remanded in custody to appear again on August 12.
Police said they were are making good progress on the case but at this stage were unclear what was behind the two "confrontations".
But there was nothing to suggest it was gang-related - only one of the four people known to be involved had any gang associations.
Highbury has been the scene of gang problems and violence in the past and in 2002 a teenage boy affiliated to Black Power was shot dead in the area.
Police were called in today after reports of shots in Highbury's Farnham Park area.
Police said they believed that there had been some sort of confrontation about midnight during which at least one person received some injuries. Firearms were not used then.
However, an hour later a shotgun was fired during a second incident, leaving the trio injured.
Detective Senior Sergeant Craig Sheridan said there was some suggestion that a small group of people were having a few drinks in a house in the area and that some of them might have been involved in the (second) incident.
"None of those in hospital are seriously injured. They all made their own way to hospital without ambulance assistance and some, if not all, are expected to be discharged later today."
Mr Sheridan added 30 police were working on the case.
"We've concentrated on searching the park area so that we can re-open the area to the public as quickly as possible. We have a couple of houses of interest and these will remain cordoned off until we have finished the scene examinations."
He added no weapon had been recovered as yet.
