Police stand guard at the scene of a shooting in New Lynn, West Auckland, that occurred in the early hours of Monday morning. Video / Dean Purcell
A woman is recovering in hospital after allegedly being shot in the stomach by a pipe gun at a West Auckland property, while police scour the scene for a firearm.
An investigation has been launched after emergency services were called to a property on Trojan Cres, New Lynn overnight.
A 26-year-old man has appeared in Waitākere District Court via audio-visual link charged with unlawful possession of a firearm.
A woman was found at the property with injury to her abdomen, a burn on her left forearm and injury to her left palm, the court heard.
She was taken to Auckland City Hospital and underwent emergency surgery. She is understood to be recovering in a stable condition.
A scene examination is under way at the property and armed police were seen guarding the area.
A woman has taken to hospital with critical injures after an alleged shooting in New Lynn overnight. Photo / Dean Purcell
A 26-year-old man charged following the incident has been remanded in custody overnight and has been granted bail, starting tomorrow.
Police allege he and friends had been socialising at the property, and just before midnight he and the woman went into a room "to look at a firearm, during that time the firearm was discharged", the court heard.
Police allege the man called 111 but soon after handed the phone to one of his friends and hid the gun before emergency services arrived.
But the man's lawyer told the courtroom he denies any knowledge of the firearm or its location, and that he was not with the woman at the time a firearm was allegedly discharged.
After dialling 111 he went to wait for an ambulance outside because he was "extremely distressed" by the situation and was worried about the woman, the man's lawyer said.
"He was too worried about the victim to pay any attention to what happened to the weapon."
It's the latest in a string of firearm incidents that have rocked the Auckland suburb in recent weeks.
Less than a fortnight ago father-of-two Robert James Hart, 40, was shot and killed on a driveway on Great North Rd.
Last month five Head Hunters gang members were arrested following a shooting on Astley Ave which left a man in hospital with critical injuries.
On the same street two weeks prior, a man allegedly brandished a sawn-off shotgun in a terrifying home invasion involving five others.
