A man has been shot by police following a shoot-out in Christchurch.
The incident took place on Eveleyn Couzins Avenue in Richmond at about 7:30pm on Tuesday evening.
Police say the man, who was wanted by police, failed to stop on request. Officers gave chase and deployed road spikes, and when the driver stopped and got out of the car he began shooting.
Officers returned fire, shooting him in the lower half of his body. Police immediately gave the man first aid and transported him to Christchurch Hospital, where he remains under supervision in a critical condition.
Police have set up a cordon and advise the public to avoid the area.
The high-stakes incident was caught on camera by a local passing through the area.
In the video a man in a red shirt and khaki shorts can be seen sprinting away from a car as police tear up the street with sirens blaring.
As the man runs he can be seen turning back to face police. At this point more than a dozen shots ring out, believed to have been fired by police officers.
One man, who asked not to be named, told Newshub he was "shocked" to have been so close to the action and was scared as the events played out.
He was standing in his kitchen and ducked down below his window as the police and a man exchanged gunfire.
The man says at first he saw a car come around the corner as a wheel was falling off with three police cars in pursuit. He said those patrol vehicles were then joined by a number of others.
"After about eight cars, the guy at the end of the street got out and headed towards the new subdivision area and obviously couldn’t get away and started firing back," the witness told Newshub.
"The cops then took fire back at him. It was probably about 10 or so shots, about four from him and the rest were from the cops."
Local man Vaughan Mclean told Newshub he saw a car veer into Eveleyn Couzins Ave from Northhaven Rd, chased by four police cars.
He came out of his house just as the suspect and officers both began firing at each other, and says he felt "shrapnel flying past us".
"Me and my daughter were getting shot at as he was shooting back at police," he says. "There must have been ten shots in total."
They ran and hit behind a hedge, and Mr Mclean hid his daughter underneath him. He didn't see the moment the suspect was shot as he was "lying on the lawn hoping for the best".
"I'm shaking a bit, it was pretty scary," he says. "I thought I was going to die, to be fair. The police did all they could, they shot him pretty quickly."
He says such incidents don't often happen in Richmond.
"On a Tuesday night we're usually playing Scrabble or Monopoly, or watching Married at First Sight."
Newshub.
