Four police officers have been shot and injured in New Zealand during a siege at a remote rural property on the North Island.
One of the officers is in a serious condition in hospital, while three others are being treated for their injuries. They are in a stable condition.
They were hurt during an incident which developed into a siege situation, but which started when a police aircraft was shot at in the Otakiri, Bay of Plenty area.
In response, armed Police cordoned off a rural property about 70km from Rotorua where the three officers were injured.
A fourth officer also received a gunshot injury to the hand during a separate incident at the scene.
Specialist armed staff on their way to the developing scene, where the alleged offender is still inside this address.
The area has been sealed off and a no-fly zone is in place.
Police have been live tweeting:
New Zealand's Acting Police Commissioner, Mike Clement, issued a statement about the incident, saying "it is always distressing to us all when officers are injured while doing their duty to keep the community safe.
Clement stated "police are still building a picture of the events around today's incident, but here is some information we can provide:
At around 10.45am today, three shots were heard by Police staff who were in the Otakiri, Bay Of Plenty, area on an operation involving the use of aircraft.
At around 11.30am, another shot was fired at an aircraft being used by Police and armed Police staff then cordoned a rural property in Onepu Springs Road, Otakiri, about 70km from Rotorua.
AOS staff were then deployed from Rotorua and were in place at the address shortly after 1pm.
At around 3.45pm it was confirmed that three Police officers had been shot and injured at the address.
Our priority was then to ensure the safety of these injured staff and they were safely removed from the addresss and were transported to hospitals in Whakatane and Rotorua.
Two of the officers are in stable condition, a third is in a serious condition in hospital.
Following this event, a fourth officer also received a gunshot injury to their hand in a separate incident at the scene. He is currently receiving medical treatment.
Police are continuing to cordon and contain the situation, and we have more specialist armed staff on their way to assist. At this stage it is assumed that the alleged offender is still inside this address".
