28 Oct 2015

Murder charge laid after fatal shooting

3:41 pm on 28 October 2015

A 28-year-old Napier man has been charged with murder after a woman was shot to death on Monday night.

The main road through Clive has been closed off and three tents set up as police examine the scene of the shooting.

The main road through Clive, where the accused was shot by police, was closed off as police examined the scene. Photo: RNZ / Peter Fowler

Napier woman Victoria Foster, 24, was found dead in her home in the suburb of Westshore about 9pm on Monday.

Detective Inspector Mike Foster said a man was charged with her murder at a bedside hearing at Hawke's Bay Hospital this afternoon.

He was granted interim name suppression and remanded in custody to appear in the Hastings District Court on 16 November.

Police found Ms Foster's body in her home and began pursuing a car in central Hastings about 9.45pm that continued on to State Highway 2 towards Hastings.

The man allegedly fired three shots from his vehicle during the pursuit, before he was shot by police in the small town of Clive.

He remained in hospital in a stable condition.

Mr Foster said there were many questions still to be answered.

"We are very much in the early phases of our inquiry and there is a lot of work ahead of us. We're unable to talk in detail about the circumstances surrounding the incident, what took place or any interactions between police and the man, as this could compromise our investigations.

"We also have a large number of staff who were involved in both incidents that have to be independently interviewed. This will take some time and we don't expect to get a totally clear picture of what took place for some time yet," Mr Foster said.