New Zealand, October 06: Police have captured a man who sparked a massive man hunt in New Zealand following the discovery of a body in a car, a police chase and the shooting of a farm worker.
Farmers were given armed guards to tend to their animals and residents told to stay inside locked premises if possible as police tracked down 46-year-old David Bourke.
The Dominion Post said 40 armed police and an air force Iroquois helicopter were involved in the hunt.
Members of the Armed Offenders Squad found the 46-year-old Wanganui man at a golf course on Kopua Road near Norsewood on the lower North Island, late this morning.
Mr Bourke has been on the run since Sunday when he sped away from a breathalyser test then crashed his car on State Highway 2.
He shot at a police car before taking off on foot and a man’s body was found in the vehicle, news agency NZPA reports.
He later fired on two farm workers, injuring Chad Hinga.
Police said the 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.”
Friend Trevor Beamsley told The Dominion Post Mr Bourke was “just a run-of-the-mill sort of person” and the weekend’s events came “from left field”.
Appealing to Mr Bourke to give himself up, he said: “It’s never too late to stop more people getting hurt. If he’s got a problem then let the people that are suitable qualified deal with it.”
NZPA said about 3000 hectares between Norsewood, Ormondville and Takapau on the lower North Island was cordoned off during the search.
They had searched “farms, hay stacks, little implement sheds, milking facilities, forest and scrub”.
A helicopter carrying thermal imaging equipment had also been used in the hunt.
He confirmed police were now treating the discovery of the body in the gunman’s car as homicide.
—Agencies