Man shot in Dunedin gang clash

A senior Black Power member was shot in the arm during an eruption of gang violence in Dunedin yesterday afternoon - an incident which has resulted in 10 arrests.

Police swooped on the suburb of Liberton about 4pm following multiple emergency phone calls to report two rival gangs were fighting on Allenby Ave.

Inspector Alastair Dickie said last night police arrested 10 men and charged them with unlawful assembly.

More charges were likely to be laid once CIB staff had conducted a further investigation, he said.

Armed police were guarding two properties and Dunedin Hospital last night.

Five of the arrested men were Black Power gang members and the remainder were linked to the Mongrel Mob, Insp Dickie said.

The men were being held in custody to ensure there was no further "escalation around the city".

"We needed to act quickly to keep the peace and limit any damage or threat to the safety of the public," Insp Dickie said.

One of those involved in the confrontation - a senior Black Power member - was driven to Dunedin Hospital after being shot.

Insp Dickie said a 43-year-old Dunedin man was undergoing surgery at Dunedin Hospital last night to repair nerve damage to his right arm.

Police believe a low-calibre rifle was used in the shooting, while a second weapon was allegedly used to damage a gang vehicle at the property - an incident which had "further inflamed the situation", Insp Dickie said.

A white Subaru with a smashed front window remained parked outside of the property yesterday.

Police, including the armed offenders squad, began searching city streets for the occupants of two vehicles allegedly involved in the incident.

Thirty minutes later one of those vehicles, a blue sedan, pulled up at a Pine Hill Rd address followed by two cars with armed police.

Officers drew their weapons and demanded the men get out of the car one at a time, before asking them to slowly walk backwards where they were handcuffed on the footpath.

Insp Dickie said the car was a "vehicle of interest" in the police investigation, but he was unable to confirm whether it had been used to transport the shooting victim to the hospital.

Extra staff have been called in to investigate, with searches of the properties and vehicles at the centre of the inquiry scheduled to take place this morning, Insp Dickie said.

Police were uncertain what had sparked yesterday's violent confrontation between the rival gangs.

It has been two years since gang violence last erupted inthe city, with police then arresting more than a dozen gang members for a range of offences.

The most serious of those include a drive-by shooting at a South Dunedin house, the arson of another house and the throwing of Molotov cocktails at several other properties.