Police are appealing for sightings of a vehicle that was involved in a series of events prior to the shooting of a farm worker near Norsewood in the Tararua District.
It is now known that the green Honda Rafaga saloon car was subject of a driving complaint by a member of the public on State Highway 1 at Te Horo, on the Kapiti Coast, around 1.15pm on Sunday, 4 October. The member of the public reported the car driving erratically northbound on the highway.
That caller has been spoken to but police want to hear from anyone else who saw the vehicle between Te Horo and Norsewood who has any information that might be relevant to the ongoing investigation.
The next sighting of the vehicle that we know of was around 3.20pm when the car was subject to another driving complaint north of Dannevirke. The vehicle was spotted at 3.45pm by a police patrol car and stopped. The driver was given a breath screening which he failed at which point he drove off from police. There was a short pursuit which was called off for public safety reasons.
The Honda was then involved in a minor collision with another car a couple of minutes before 4pm, about 4km north of Norsewood on SH2 at a location called Butcher's Creek. As the same police patrol car arrived at the scene of that crash, the officer approached the vehicle. The driver began to step from the vehicle carrying a shotgun and the officer retreated. As he did so he heard shots discharged behind him.
The next incident was approximately 5pm on farmland off Whenuahou Road, near Norsewood, when two farm workers spoke to a man with a shotgun who claimed to be hunting rabbits. As the workers returned to their truck at least one shot was fired and one of the workers was hit in the shoulder. He is recovering in hospital.
There have been no sightings of the gunman since that point.
Police doing a cursory search of the Honda car discovered the body of a man in the car. That body is still inside the vehicle and is unidentified at this time. The car is under guard and will be subject to a detailed scene examination later this morning, along with the scene of the farm worker shooting. That scene examination will be carried out by ESR.
SH2 remains closed at this stage and residents are still being advised to remain inside their locked properties.
Operations Manager Inspector David White said: "We realise that the road closure and the advice to stay inside is an inconvenience but public safety is first and foremost our priority. We will be working to lift these restrictions as quickly as possible but only once we believe it is safe to do so."
The man being sought is described as white European, about 170cms tall with a stocky build. He should not under any circumstances be approached and any sightings should be reported to police immediately.
Anyone who has any information which might assist this investigation is asked to contact the Palmerston North Crime Line on 0800 808585
Media enquiries should be referred to Communications Manager Kim Perks on 06 351 2546 or 027 234 8256.