Father shot son, turned gun on self: police

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A Nelson father critically injured his 37-year-old son when he shot him at close range at a family home in Tapawera on Thursday night.

Ian Boyd a 58-year-old engineer, was later discovered dead from self-inflicted gun shot wounds, police said.

The incident sparked an armed offenders squad manhunt in the area around Tapawera, 58km south west of Nelson, about 11.20pm.

Police discovered Boyd's car at 3.30am on a church driveway in Tadmor Valley, 10km south east of Tapawera, when shortly afterwards, three shots were heard.

A shotgun and a high-powered hunting rifle were found in the vehicle.

The son, who was visiting from Christchurch, suffered a shotgun wound to his upper chest and remains in a critical condition in intensive care at Wellington Hospital, the Nelson Mail reported.

Detective John Nicholls of Motueka police told the paper the tragedy unfolded after the father and son had a fight on the roadside. The son had a tooth broken when he was punched in the face, police said.

He then left to go to another family member's house in the nearby Tadmor Valley.

Boyd turned up about 15 minutes later and confronted and then shot his son.

He was lucky to be alive, Mr Nicholls said.

"Not too many people who get shot point blank with a 12-gauge shotgun survive. He's a very, very lucky man."

A number of people in the house at the time saw the shooting, he said.

"[The family] certainly weren't expecting that sort of behaviour ... It took them by complete surprise."

Boyd's older brother Phil Boyd, of Mapua, said he had no idea what triggered the shooting.

"There was nothing at all to indicate anything like this."

He had spoken with his brother's widow yesterday, who was "very upset."

About 600 people live in Tapawera and the surrounding area and locals were shocked to hear the news.

Tapawera District Community Council chairwoman Dinkie Phillips said Tapawera was a close community and the shooting was totally out of the ordinary.

"This is Tapawera. We're a lovely place to live... I'm shocked."

Local vicar Bernard Portman said it would "hit the community hard".

He said support would be available to residents.

- NZPA