Queenstown police yesterday arrested a 29-year-old Frankton man allegedly seen in possession of a pistol in Frankton, Queenstown, who may have shot himself in the leg.
The man was reportedly seen to remove the pistol from the waistband of his trousers before walking down Lower Stewart St towards the Frankton Motor Camp about 11.55am. About the same time, ambulance control received a 111 call from a man who said he had shot himself in the leg with an air pistol.
Ambulance and police attended, and a man was apprehended walking along Frankton Rd towards Queenstown.
He was apprehended without incident. However, no firearm was found, despite police searching the roadside between the place the man was apprehended and where he was reported seen with one.
Speaking at the scene, St John Queenstown team manager Alana Reid told the Otago Daily Times the patient had "refused treatment".
Detective Sergeant Brian Cameron, of Queenstown, asked for residents in the area to be aware the firearm might have been stashed or hidden before emergency services arrived, and to look in any hedgerows or readily accessible areas. He said police could not be sure whether the weapon was loaded and advised anyone who found it to call police immediately.
The man suffered a welt to his upper thigh and will be granted bail to appear in the Queenstown District Court on Monday.
