Person hospitalised after series of drive-by paintball shootings

Four people, ages 22, 18, 15 and 13, have been accused of targeting bystanders with a paintball gun in Newmarket. Photo / Thinkstock

Two adults and two youths have been charged after a series of drive-by paintball shootings at an upscale shopping district in Auckland that has left one bystander hospitalised with a serious eye injury.

Police said a man was standing on Broadway in Newmarket around 11.30pm on Monday when he was targeted by a passing vehicle.

"The victim received a serious injury to his eye and is currently in Auckland City Hospital," said Detective Senior Sergeant Khushwinder Kullar.

"Following this, police received several more reports of similar behaviour of a person using a paintball gun, including a second victim who was struck in the head and required medical treatment."

A 22-year-old steel fixer and an 18-year-old, both Glen Eden residents, appeared at Auckland District Court on Tuesday for charges of wounding causing grievous bodily harm with reckless disregard, injuries with reckless disregard and recklessly discharging a firearm.

Both men were remanded on bail without plea until their next hearing, set for three weeks from now. Judge Peter Winter approved their applications for interim name suppression.

"You are facing some quite serious charges," the judge said as the men appeared via audio-video feed in back-to-back hearings.

If convicted of the most serious charge, they could each face sentences of up to seven years' prison.

The youths, ages 13 and 15, have been referred to Youth Aid.

Kullar touted "excellent work" by a police staffer who was able to track a suspect vehicle on CCTV overnight, resulting in a traffic stop in St Heliers that resulted in the arrests.

"We hope the swift arrests provides some degree of comfort to the victims involved in these matters and sends a strong message that police will not tolerate this type of reckless and dangerous offending," Kullar said.