A victim of an alleged road rage incident tried to wrestle a gun from a man threatening to shoot him in Rotorua's city centre.
But the struggle turned bloody when the man was shot twice - in the face and arm.
Richard Marsters is to stand trial in the High Court at Rotorua on June 21 on charges including attempted murder, unlawful possession of a .303 rifle, theft of a car, reckless driving and failing to stop for police.
The Daily Post has viewed the depositions evidence laying out the police case against Marsters.
The 49-year-old Rotorua man was wanted by police for the shooting on November 13 and was spotted driving in Rotorua over a week later. He then allegedly led police on a 66km chase that reached speeds of up to 180km/h - including through road works.
The road rage complainant, who had his newborn son and nephew in his car, was following a car, allegedly driven by Marsters, on Te Ngae Rd.
His evidence said Marsters and another motorist were "dragging" each other near Sala St.
Marsters turned right on to Fenton St at the Pak 'N Save traffic lights. The complainant said Marsters "deliberately" slowed down, forcing him to tailgate him.
"I thought it was weird ... or he was just an idiot," the complainant said in his evidence.
Marsters allegedly followed the man to a nearby business where he confronted them. Marsters abused the man about his driving, and suddenly "jabbing" the complainant in the eye before "pulling a gun out of his pocket". He pointed it at the man's chest and yelled "do you want a ... go?".
As the man and Marsters started fighting, Marsters poked the barrel of the gun into the man's chest asking "do you want a piece of this?" before pointing it at the man's head. Marsters punched the man in the head before they started wrestling again.
Fearing being shot, the man tried to wrestle the gun from Marsters as he was forced on to the bonnet of Marsters' car.
His nephew ran at Marsters, tackling him on the bonnet also.
Marsters managed to fire the gun, grazing the man's head as he tried to "duck" the bullet.
The man suddenly felt "stunned" as Marsters allegedly fired another shot, shooting the man through the arm.
"I didn't feel pain. I just felt numb and I could feel a lot of blood around my chest and shoulder," he told police.
A woman yelled from the car, "what have you done?" before Marsters allegedly hit the man in the nose several times with the butt of the gun before fleeing.
On November 22, a detective who knew Marsters recognised him driving a Mitsubishi GTO on Fairy Springs Rd. Marsters' girlfriend at the time, Lee Haira, had borrowed the car from a friend three days earlier and failed to return it, the evidence stated.
As Marsters headed towards Tirau on State Highway 5, "he sped up" reaching 170km/h, Senior Sergeant Denton Grimes said.
Police lost sight of Marsters after he turned on to State Highway 28. He failed to slow down for road works, driving through at 180km/h, Mr Grimes' evidence states. Marsters was stopped outside the Arapuni Hotel after running over road spikes. Marsters is in custody awaiting trial.
ALLEGED ROAD RAGE VICTIM: 'I could feel a lot of blood'
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