A 16-year-old girl was allegedly sexually assaulted by two men in Dannevirke last night, then left in a paddock.

A horror seven days has seen 18 people die in 12 road accidents and has left police blaming speed and alcohol as a factor in many of them.

Blood, fat and discarded pieces of butchered animals were spread 15km on SH2 after a tailgate opened on a truck.

David Bourke is remanded for a psychiatric report after making no plea in the Palmerston North District Court.

Police tackled and disarmed a hypothermic fugitive who had been on the run for about 48 hours in Hawkes Bay today.

Police are this morning resuming their search for a gunman who shot at two people - one a policeman - and fled, leaving a dead body in his car.

Police launch a murder inquiry over a body found in the back of an accused Hawkes Bay gunman's car.

A Hawke's Bay gunman who shot at police and threatened farmers has gone to ground.

Cordons have been set up around 15 square kilometres of farmland as a police helicopter and armed police search for a gunman.

A body was found in the car of a gunman on the run in the lower North Island.

A severe weather warning is issued for the lower North Island while police warn of surface flooding in Auckland.