Police praise camp staff after shooting

Police have praised the managers of a Nelson camp ground who quickly evacuated people after gunshots were heard yesterday.

The bodies of a 53-year-old man and a 50-year-old woman were found in a caravan at the Maitai Valley Motor Camp by armed police early yesterday afternoon after an apparent murder-suicide.

Both appeared to have died from gunshot wounds, Tasman District Commander Superintendent Gary Knowles said.

There were no other injuries and police were not looking for anyone else in connection with the deaths.

Both deaths were being treated as suspicious until proven otherwise, he said.

Campers returned to the camp ground in the afternoon but a cordon and guards remained in place around the caravan overnight.

Police said that forensic experts would carry out an examination of the caravan this morning.

The couple's names would not be released until next of kin had been contacted.

Witnesses saw a man carrying a firearm enter a caravan at the camp ground about 11.20am, before hearing screams and two gunshots, The Press reported.

Detective Senior Sergeant Wayne McCoy said the woman lived at the motor camp with her children.

The man, who was not originally from Nelson, would visit occasionally.

The woman's children were not there at the time of the shooting, and were being cared for by their father, Mr McCoy said.

It was the second fatal shooting in the Maitai Valley in a year.

In November last year Nelson man Troy Minto, 22, died from a single gunshot blast to the chest in Branford Park, at the entrance to the valley, during a reported argument over a woman.

A man has been charged with his murder.

- NZPA