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A man is due to appear in Dunedin District Court today on charges including kidnapping, firearm offences and assault, after a family argument got out of hand on Saturday night.
Up to nine people were kidnapped at gunpoint, assaulted and forced to lie on the ground after the family argument turned into a three-hour standoff with armed police.
A dispute broke out between the man and his relatives, all aged between 20 and 30 years, about 7pm at a rural property at Harington Point, on the Otago Peninsula.
The alleged offender pointed a loaded .303-calibre rifle at two of the people in the house, "forcing them to lie down on the ground and not to move", acting Senior Sergeant Chris McLellan told the Otago Daily Times.
The offender also kicked and punched the victims, striking one with a firearm, he said.
Some of the victims managed to escape, and ran to a nearby address where they called police.
The armed offenders squad and a police negotiation team responded, and the alleged offender presented himself to police at their cordon about 10.30pm.
Mr McLellan said he was "very concerned" about the incident, but pleased that the weapons involved, two rifles with ammunition, had been located.
- NZPA
