Police in Gisborne have decided not to charge four people who sparked a callout by the Armed Offenders Squad in the suburb of Tamarau.
Several calls were received just before 6pm on Thursday, after seven or eight gunshots were heard.
Three men and a woman were interviewed about the incident, which prompted police to cordon off several streets for a time, including the East Coast Highway.
Sergeant Rebecca Pepere says they had been sighting their rifles, by aligning them against a bank.
They were in a semi-rural area at a private property in Wheatstone road.
No charges were laid and the four have been released.
