An elderly Whangarei resident hunkered down in her lounge chair, locking the windows and doors, as police armed with guns surrounded a neighbouring house after a family violence incident sparked a major police callout.
The 88-year-old woman, who did not want to be named, said she had been watching television when she glanced out the window and saw men dressed in black with guns at her letterbox on Mahana Place, Raumanga, yesterday.
Police were alerted just after midday to an incident where there were concerns for a female and a possibility of a man with firearms at the house. The neighbour said she had lived in the street for a long time and had learned to keep her head down during such action.
"I could hear the police talking on a loudspeaker telling them to come out of the house but I turned up the television and just stayed in my chair and didn't move," she said.
About 25 Whangarei police staff were involved including about nine members of the armed offenders' squad and a police dog.