Police shot a man who opened fire on them in a dramatic shootout in West Auckland last night.
The man was taken to hospital in a serious condition after being shot in the stomach when the execution of a routine warrant erupted into violence and sent the suburb of New Lynn into lockdown.
It is understood armed officers went to where the man lived in Nikau St to arrest him about 7.30pm.
A fight started and the man fired at the police.
They fired back, hitting him in the stomach.
The man is aged in his 30s.
A police source told The New Zealand Herald police were shot at first and then returned fire.
A neighbour said four shots were fired in quick succession, followed by screaming and shouting.
"There was a man's and a woman's voice, but I couldn't hear what they were saying."
She said she and other neighbours went outside but police ordered them to go back behind closed doors.
Another neighbour, Christopher Harris, said his wife heard four "pops" and thought it was someone nailing, then realised they were gunshots.
Mr Harris, who has two young sons, said there had been domestic disturbances at the address before but nothing that suggested something so serious could happen.
"It's a worry. It makes you think twice about where you live."
Last night's drama follows the shooting of two police officers, Senior Constable Bruce Lamb and Constable Mitchel Alatalo, in Christchurch last week - and the death of police dog Gage.
That incident sparked renewed calls from the Police Association for officers to be routinely armed.
Commissioner Howard Broad and Police Minister Judith Collins said guns would be made more readily accessible under proposed changes to police policy by the end of the year.
Association president Greg O'Connor welcomed that last week, warned that more people would get shot, but said New Zealanders needed to stop "getting squeamish" about firearms and "get squeamish" about officers getting shot. Two officers have been shot dead and seven others have been injured in New Zealand over the past two years.
