Emergency services have rushed to Wellington Regional Hospital after reports of a shooting on Wednesday evening.
"Police are currently in attendance on Riddiford St outside Wellington Hospital after a report of a firearm being discharged," a police spokesperson told Newshub at 6:20pm.
"There are no reported injuries and those involved appear to be known to each other."
Police enquiries are ongoing to determine the circumstances.
A patient told Newshub officers were running through the building with "big guns" and the hospital had been put into lockdown.
The patient, who did not wish to be identified, said they were in the hospital with their brother, father and mother at the time.
"My brother had just left the hospital to collect his car and bring it over to pick us all up, and then he called to say he'd just seen a woman yelling that there was a gunman inside," they told Newshub.
"As soon as he told me, I went up the ward towards the reception area to have a look and there were police and security guards running up the corridor.
"There was a woman crying on a seat, and not many people in the foyer."
They said the hospital has since come out of lockdown.
A second witness told Newshub she was inside the hospital when the shooting took place.
"We were in the foyer, walking out towards the front doors of the hospital at about 5:20pm when we heard a gun go off outside," the woman said.
"A group of about six people then came bursting through the doors saying: 'There's a man with a gun!'"
"They all then crammed into a lift, I suppose for protection."
The woman told Newshub "police cars went to the wrong place at first", adding they were "quite slow to respond".
She said she left the hospital once she thought the coast was clear.
Te Whatu Ora confirmed a firearm was shot outside the hospital while urging calm.
"Te Whatu Ora Capital, Coast and Hutt Valley can confirm that a firearm was discharged today outside the main entrance of Wellington Regional Hospital," Te Whatu Ora's Jamie Duncan told Newshub.
"No one was injured, and there was no risk to patients or staff. We are now providing support for staff who witnessed the incident.
"While the main entrance will remain temporarily closed until police have departed, there has been no disruption to services and the hospital continues to operate as normal."
More to come.
