A 53-year-old man has been charged with murder following the death of a 39-year-old man in a firearms incident in Rotorua last night.
The accused has been remanded in custody until 19 July when he will appear in the Rotorua High Court.
Guards were in place overnight at two scenes in the Mangakakahi area and scene examinations continued today.
A reporter at the scene earlier today said forensic police wearing boiler suits and masks had arrived at Clayton Rd scene.
Emergency services were called shortly before 8pm and police said the victim had died at the scene.
St Michael's Catholic School in Western Heights posted on Facebook it was a "sad day for the community".
In the post, principal Kristina Crouch said "A sad day for the community of Western Heights with the overnight shooting and death of a person in our area".
"I have been searching for words to share but have fallen grossly short. I'm sad. Sad for the whānau that will be affected, sad for the wider community of Western Heights, sad for parents who may have to explain these events to their children and sad for the children who come to learn about these events by way of personal experience.
"St Michael's children (the whole school) will attend Mass this morning. As always, parents and whānau are welcome to join us at St Michael's Church at 9.30am
"This morning I pray to the ArchAngel Michael."
Western Heights Primary School principal Brent Griffin said it was business as usual at the school despite the tragedy.
"Sadly this is not the first time that something like this has happened in the community."
He said so far it did not appear that any of the children were connected to the shooting victim.
The Ministry of Education had called this morning offering trauma services for students who may have needed it and the school was grateful for the offer, he said.
Krista Beamsley lives on Alison St and said she heard what sounded like two gunshots.
She said police armed with guns and accompanied with dogs had been covering the area and turning cars away from the street.
A woman heading to a friend's on Alison St was stopped at a roadblock manned by a heavily armed policeman.
She said she had since heard from people who lived in the area they could hear a fight at a house at a rear section on Alison St.
She said the fighting got so loud and a man was screaming for help that people went outside to see if everyone was alright.
One of the people in the area managed to stop the fight.
A short time later, armed police arrived at the house and took one of the men into custody, the woman said.
More information will be released as it becomes available.
A disregard for authority could be why those attending court are thumbing their noses.