Tauranga school shooter jailed

Tauranga's Bellevue School was in lockdown after a shotgun was fired nearby. Photo / File

The woman who fired a gun outside a Tauranga school - forcing a panicked lockdown for students - has been jailed.

However the woman, 44, will keep her name secret after prompting two schools and a childcare centre to go into lockdown on March 7.

Terrified students and staff at Otumoetai College and Bellevue School were forced to stay inside and out of sight after shots were heard in the neighbourhood.

Armed police arrested the woman and charged her with recklessly discharging a firearm and unlawfully possessing a firearm.

The woman appeared in the Tauranga District Court today where she was ordered to serve 12 months in prison.

Judge Coyle ordered the woman's interim name suppression to continue.

The court heard that on March 7 the woman fired a shotgun into a house near Bellevue School.

She then walked towards the school and was seen reloading before firing the gun into school grounds. Pellets were later found in school bushes. A witness called 111 and the schools went into lockdown.

The court also heard that when the woman was asked why she fired the shotgun, belonging to her partner, she said: "I just pulled the trigger. It went off, it gave me a fright. I've had a bad week."

Judge Coyle said the woman was remorseful and took into account personal circumstances when he jailed her for 12 months.

However, he referred to the panic and fear instilled in the school community, some of whom would have been thinking they were about to become victims of a mass school shooting.

Shortly after the incident, an Otumoetai College student told the Bay of Plenty Times that students at the school "thought we'd die for a while ... [I'm] still a little traumatised".

Children were sitting in darkness below window height as the woman was tracked down.

Dozens of distressed parents waited outside the primary school to be given the all-clear to pick up their children. Some parents, who were walking their children to school at the time, reported hearing at least two shots fired near the school.

Police applauded the prompt response from the schools and Montessori Otumoetai.