Firearms incident - Westport

At approximately 12:30am this morning Westport Police were called to as serious firearms incident.

A 19yr old Westport male allegedly presented a firearm at a following vehicle, and has then fired a single shot. The shot appears to have hit the front of the victim's vehicle. Fortunately the victim and his two passengers were not harmed in anyway but were understandably very shaken.

Numerous Police members were involved in trying to locate the offender including members from the Westcoast and Nelson Armed Offenders Squad.

The offender was subsequently located in a different vehicle in Westport and was arrested by the Armed Offenders Squad, as were the other 4 occupants of the vehicle.

A search warrant was conducted later in the morning at the offender's residence and a number of firearms were located. Enquiries are continuing to establish exactly which firearm was used in the offence.

A man has been transferred to the Greymouth Police Station and will appear in the Greymouth District Court tomorrow morning. The other parties have been released and will be likely to face charges when investigations are completed.