It's been revealed that the man who was shot by police outside a Rotorua shopping centre yesterday was on electronically monitored bail.
A screenshot from a video posted to Facebook, showing police gathered at the scene of the shooting in Rotorua. Photo: Facebook / Kiwi Az Bro
Officers said they used pepper-spray and tasered the 35-year-old man three times after he attacked a police car, but he refused to drop his weapon - which police described as a four-foot-long slasher - and was shot.
In a statement to RNZ News this afternoon, the Corrections Department confirmed the man was currently on electronically monitored bail, but it would not comment further because the case was under investigation.
The man remains in a critical condition in Waikato Hospital's intensive care unit after undergoing surgery for two shots to the stomach.
The shooting happened at Te Ngae Road about 1pm yesterday.
Bay of Plenty district commander Superintendent Andy McGregor said yesterday the man was heading towards a shopping centre as he waved the slasher.
He said the man was believed to be under the influence of methamphetamine, which would be why tasering had no effect.