A man shot by police after allegedly presenting an airgun at them last month says he thought he was playing a joke on his brother.

A west Auckland school has a message of thanks for the men who refused to use a brothel which opened across the road earlier this year.

Police have admitted a man they gunned down pointed a stolen air rifle but never fired before they started shooting. And the man's brother says it wasn't loaded.

Shannon Lawson, 38, who was shot by police in west Auckland on Sunday, has been remanded in custody after a brief appearance in court today.

A 8-year-old boy left with "half his face hanging off" after a pitbull attack said he was grateful it was him and not his baby brother or sister.

A man who accidentally shot dead his girlfriend last year has been jailed for three years four months.

A law expert says Waitakere City Council is wrong to think it cannot help a school that wants a nearby brothel removed.

A school chairman calls for Waitakere City to step in after learning Rodney has a bylaw stopping a brothel opening near a school.

The owner of a brothel opposite a school says people should be more worried about children watching violent TV than his business.

A man who backed over a policewoman in 2008 has been found guilty of drink driving causing injury.

A west Auckland intermediate school is outraged it can do nothing about a brothel which has opened across the road.