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Police are looking for two men who forced a motorist's car off a Northland road, and shot a passenger in the head with a crossbow, before fleeing.
The men forced the 29-year-old victim's car off the East Coast road between Tutukaka and Ngunguru, northeast of Whangarei at 5pm on Sunday.
They got out of their car and shot the Whangarei man with a crossbow at close range.
Police said one of the men then walked over and yanked out the bolt from where it had stuck in the back of the man's head, before driving away.
However, last night the victim's brother told how the man lost consciousness after pulling the bolt from his head himself. He underwent emergency brain surgery which involved having a plate fitted to his skull.
Northland police communications officer Sarah Kennett said police were looking for two men - a male Maori and a 1.8m tall man with blond dreadlocked hair.
The men were driving a black Mitsubishi Libero station wagon, possibly with red mag wheels and tinted windows.
The victims 26-year-old brother, who did not want to be named, told the Herald last night it was a miracle his brother had survived the Sunday incident.
"He can talk and his mind seems normal. He's in pain and they've put a titanium plate in his head."
His brother was in the front passenger seat of a car when he was shot.
"His mate was driving. They had just started to drive off when some dude pointed a crossbow at him.
"The window was down and [my brother] turned to look out the window and the arrow went straight through his forehead."
His brother initially did not realise he had been shot.
"It went in and he said to his mate, 'What's that?' His mate looked at him and went white and said, 'It's an arrow'. He pulled it out himself straight away, then lost consciousness."
He added: "He's in pain, just shocked. He's OK though ... it's a miracle it went in and didn't hit anything major."
Last night a spokeswoman for Auckland City Hospital said the man was in a comfortable condition.
Donna Austin, district operations manager for St John in Northland, said ambulance staff found the man by his car at the side of Matapouri Rd, between Tutukaka and Ngunguru.
"The bolt had penetrated quite a long way into his skull."
It is understood the incident was a result of a dispute over personal property, and police are investigating.
