Man shot in face in Taradale gang shootout chants 'Black Power' during court appearance

A number of shots were fired in Taradale’s Gloucester St.

A man who was shot in the face during a gang shootout in Taradale on Sunday has appeared in court.

The 25-year-old from Wairoa, who has name suppression, appeared in the Hastings District Court charged with possessing a hammer with the intent to threaten violence and being a part of an unlawful group assembly with the intent to cause fear.

Both charges have a combined maximum penalty of four years in prison.

It's alleged the man was caught up in the gang violence between the Mongrel Mob and Black Power in the Napier suburb on Sunday.

Armed officers swarmed the scene in Taradale where a gun was fired during a fight between up to 40 gang members.

Around 30 to 40 gang members from both sides were reported to be involved in the brawl, which saw multiple gunshots fired and a shotgun pellet narrowly miss a two-year-old's car seat.

The man, with bandages across his left eye and with a full length cast on his right arm, was only discharged from Hawke’s Bay Hospital yesterday.

He appeared before a justice of the peace and chanted “Black Power” as he was remanded in custody.

He will reappear in the Napier District Court next month.

He’s the first and only person who has been charged by police in relation to the incident so far.

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