Please attribute to Inspector Freda Grace, Hamilton City Area Commander:
Police investigating the shooting of a man on Derby Street, Nawton last night have established this was a targeted attack.
The 35-year-old victim remains in Waikato Hospital with moderate injuries which are not thought to be life threatening. We are supporting him and his whanau.
Investigations so far have established a group of offenders arrived at Derby Street and approached a house they believed belonged to the target of their attack and knocked on the door.
A man who lived at the address opened the door and an altercation occurred. He was uninjured but understandably shaken by the event, Police are ensuring he is supported.
Following this, the group of offenders went to the house next door. A number of shots were fired and the 35-year-old man they were targeting was hit inside his address.
The group have then fled the scene in vehicles.
A scene examination is continuing on Derby Street today and a number of investigation staff are working on finding the people responsible for this attack.
It is yet to be established whether this incident involves members of organised criminal groups.
We want to reassure the community that they have no need to be concerned following this incident, this was not a random attack.
The fact an innocent member of the public was accidentally caught up in this incident is upsetting. This kind of behaviour is simply not acceptable and we are determined to find those responsible.
We are concerned that there have been a number of serious incidents involving people being harmed across Waikato in recent months.
At this point in time, there is nothing to suggest these incidents are connected.
Investigations like this are complex and can take time, however we want people to know that we are taking this seriously and are confident we will hold people to account.
We are still in the very early stages of this investigation but the public should be assured that we will tell them anything they need to know.
We want everyone in our communities to be safe and feel safe and we are always working towards that goal.
Police are keen to talk to anyone who was in the area around 10:25pm yesterday who may have witnessed anything suspicious or have information of interest to the investigation.
People can contact Hamilton Police on 07 858 6200 or call Crimestoppers anonymously via 0800 555 111.
ENDS
Issued by Police Media Centre