Armed raid stuns neighbourhood

SHATTERED: Skipage Grove in Featherston, where a house was raided by a masked pair on Sunday.

Residents of a sleepy Featherston cul-de-sac were shocked after masked men fired a rifle during a midnight raid for drugs at a home in the street.

Detective Sergeant Barry Bysouth said two armed men posing as police had stormed the door of the Skipage Grove home close to midnight on Sunday, ordering the terrified residents "not to move".

One of the masked men had a long kitchen knife and the other was armed with a .22 rifle, which was fired into the house through the damaged rear door. The residents fled uninjured but terrified to a bedroom, where they barricaded the door.

The bullet was found embedded in an internal wall, Mr Bysouth said, and the intruders stole items, including phones and keys.

The victims declined to be interviewed by the Wairarapa Times-Age yesterday.

Neighbours, who refused to be named out of fear of retaliation, told the Times-Age they were shocked to learn of the armed invasion after several unmarked police vehicles had arrived in the street early on Monday and police officers questioned residents door to door.

An older woman said she had lived in Skipage Grove for close to 30 years and its calm and security had been "well and truly shattered" by the firearms incident.

"It's a beautiful neighbourhood and one of the nicest streets in Featherston - a good mixture of retired people and younger families. We don't need this here."

Another older resident said she also had lived in the cul-de-sac for almost 30 years and it was "a safe street".

"It's a pretty quiet street, it's a lovely street. It's usually nice and quiet we don't normally have any bother," she said.

"We only found out [about the invasion] this morning when we read it in the paper."

A male resident said Skipage Grove was quiet and unremarkable despite "occasional noisy parties that are nothing unusual for any street".

There were high winds on Sunday night, he said, and he and other members of his household were oblivious as the armed raid unfolded across the road.

His neighbour had been likewise unaware of the incident at the time and was "really quite shocked when we found out what happened".

"It's a really quiet street. We're used to cars coming and going sometimes but not gunshots in the middle of the night."

Mr Bysouth described one of the masked men as about 6ft (1.83m) tall, and in his early 20s.

He was wearing a balaclava and dark clothing.

The victims of the raid were unable to describe the man armed with the rifle and had been left "extremely shaken" by their experience.

"Incidents where people are threatened in their own home by intruders such as this are extremely rare and will not be tolerated," Mr Bysouth said.

Police did not believe the raid was a random attack but was "more likely a targeted attempt to rob persons who the perpetrators believed may have been in possession of unlawful drugs".

He urged anyone with information to contact the CIB at wairarapa.police@police.govt .nz by email or to call anonymously via Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.