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Neighbours who saw a woman shot in the head with a crossbow say they witnessed a freakish scene.
Adele Curran was outside her Glen Eden home watering pot plants when a 40cm long arrow whisked across her fence and lodged in her skull, just centimetres above her right eye.
"Out of nowhere we just heard screaming. She was kneeling on the deck and was holding on to it [the arrow]. I'd seen it in her head - she was quite calm about it - but she got hysterical when the ambulance people came and started playing with it," said a neighbour who did not want to be named.
The scene was "freakish".
"I was trying to rush the kids into the house [because] it was a bit scary and she was swearing."
Another neighbour, Tennille Heather, had just arrived home when she heard screaming.
"Obviously she was in pain. I could only see a boy standing over someone on the deck, yelling, 'Don't you f****** pull it out! Don't pull it out!' I was going to go over and see what was wrong but then the cops and ambulance came."
The 42-year-old was taken to Auckland City Hospital and later transferred to the eye department at Green Lane Hospital. She was last night in a serious but stable condition after emergency surgery to remove the arrow.
Detective Senior Sergeant Brown said the woman was lucky to be alive.
"One centimetre one way and she would be dead. It would have been a fatal shot."
One News last night reported that a neighbour of the woman was testing out the crossbow, a Christmas present, when things went wrong.
He was firing at an old stereo speaker when the crossbow jammed. While he was adjusting the safety catch, it fired without warning. "It was a total accident," he said.
Police have seized the crossbow and are considering laying charges.
Former New Zealand First law and order spokesman Ron Mark renewed his call for the Government to introduce a licensing requirement for crossbows.
"These weapons are potentially lethal, with the ability to kill or maim at a range of 60 yards [55m], yet there is no requirement for crossbows to be licensed," he said.
At present the most serious offence anyone using a crossbow can be charged with is possessing an offensive weapon.
But John Howat, chairman of the New Zealand Council of Licensed Firearms Owners, said legislation could be difficult to police and the council would not support crossbow owners having a firearms licence because the bows were not firearms.
- additional reporting NZPA
