Northland news in brief: Kaikohe shooting second in two days

Kaikohe had two shootings in less than 24 hours.

Armed police were guarding a house in Kaikohe yesterday afternoon after the town’s second shooting in less than 24 hours.

The incident occurred about 12.20pm on Tawa Street, leaving a man bleeding heavily from what was believed to be a single gunshot wound to the leg.

Northland police Detective Senior Sergeant Chris Fouhy said the man was airlifted to Whangārei Hospital around 1.20pm in a serious but stable condition.

The injury was not life-threatening, he said.

An armed officer was guarding the property as a precaution while the investigation continued.

It was thought to be an isolated incident and the public are not considered to be at risk.

Police were following possible leads, Fouhy said. It was not yet known if the shooting was gang-related.

Fouhy said it was the second shooting in the area in less than 24 hours.

Overnight, a man was shot in the neck with an air rifle in a rural area south of Kaikohe.

He had been flown to Auckland Hospital for surgery and was also in a serious but stable condition.

Fouhy said he was “very lucky” the outcome was not worse.

The two incidents were not related, he said.

- RNZ

Hikurangi blaze

An investigation into a two-storey house fire at an address in Hikurangi is under way, but the incident is not being considered suspicious.

A Fire and Emergency New Zealand (Fenz) crew received calls at 5.25am yesterday morning and arrived at a house engulfed in flames.

Firefighters from the Hikurangi, Kamo and Whangārei brigades helped extinguish the fire by 7am.

A Fenz spokesperson said no one was injured and a fire investigator was looking into the incident.

Water restriction

A ban on the use of outdoor sprinklers or irrigation systems is in place for Ōmanaia-Rāwene households to help preserve the supply’s only water source. Drier weather in recent weeks, coupled with increased visitor numbers over the summer, has resulted in strong water demand in Rāwene and Ōmanaia. Both communities rely on water taken from Petaka Stream, which has limited water flows and is very vulnerable to dry weather. Northland Regional Council’s resource consent limits the amount of water the council can take each day, and the communities rely on storage reservoirs being refilled overnight when demand is low.

Lotto draws

Three people from Wellington, Canterbury and New Plymouth won $333,333 between them in Lotto’s First Division draw on Saturday.

Powerball was not struck and has rolled over to Wednesday night - the jackpot will be $6 million.

Five players won $50,884 with Lotto Second Division in Saturday’s draw.

One of the winning tickets was sold at Ruakākā Stationary & Gifts.