Suspect dead after Porirua siege

The man at the centre of a police standoff in Porirua has been found dead, police say.

Officers had been negotiating with the armed man, who had been in a house in Kokiri Crescent since 10am yesterday, after a police dog was shot and killed.

Police said officers had not fired any shots and no officers were injured during the operation.

Wellington District Commander Superintendent Sam Hoyle said the man was believed to be Pita Tekira, but he had yet to be formally identified.

"Despite all our efforts to negotiate with Mr Tekira to seek a safe end to the incident, officers this morning found him dead at the scene.

"This is certainly not the outcome that anyone wanted, and our thoughts are now with his whanau as we continue to investigate the circumstances of his death."

Police had previously said they were looking for 29-year-old Tekira, who had breached bail conditions, in relation to the standoff.

Tekira was facing charges including dishonesty, driving and violent offending, and had removed his electronic monitoring bracelet earlier this month.

Loud bangs could be heard at Kokiri Crescent last night, and again early this morning, but police said no gun shots had been fired and the bangs were from gas canisters being deployed into the house.

A police officer with a megaphone could last night be heard negotiating with a man, saying he was surrounded and should come out.

A robot was sent into the house around midnight.

Officers first attended an address in Kokiri Crescent in Waitangirua yesterday morning to make an arrest when a gun was pulled and the dog, Gazza, was fatally shot.

Police had evacuated residents on the street, which was cordoned off.

Mr Hoyle said the cordons were expected to be lifted once the necessary scene examinations had taken place.

However, he said there would police staff in the area over the coming days while inquiries continued.

Kokiri St residents had been unable to get into their homes during the ordeal and around 35 slept at the nearby Te Horouta Marae.

Fiona Garvin volunteered at the marae and said they had been inundated with donations of food, clothing, and toiletries for those affected by the siege.

At a news conference on Friday afternoon, District Commander Superintendent Sam Hoyle said four officers and Gazza had initially entered a house during the execution of a search warrant when they were confronted by a man who fired a shot, killing the dog.

Only one shot was fired and, while the officers were armed, they did not return fire.

Watch the news conference in Wellington here:

Two officers immediately removed the dog's body from the house, while another jumped to safety out of the second-storey window. He is now in a stable condition in Wellington Hospital.

Mr Hoyle said the officer who went out the window was being assessed at Wellington Hospital for possible fractures.

He advised locals to stay in their homes, and said there would be a strong police presence in the area until the matter was resolved.

"We want this to end without anyone else getting hurt."

He said the incident was a reminder of the dangers of police work.

"The nature of police work is that there is no such thing as a routine door knock, you never know what is on the other side of the door."

The Porirua City Council said anyone who couldn't get home because of the cordon could go to Horouta Marae on Whitford Brown Avenue.

Police cordons and mobile patrols were still in place around the area and members of the armed offenders squad had been deployed.

Junior Neligi, who was at a house nearby, said he heard dogs barking, before police told him to lock himself inside and let no one out.

He said there were about 20 police officers still on the street and the road remained blocked.

Another witness, Douglas Hall, said nearby Westmeath Street had also been cordoned off.

He said he saw six or seven police officers with vests and guns, and people had been asked to leave the area.

Another dog killed in line of duty

Police, meanwhile, have paid tribute to Gazza - the seventh police dog killed while on duty.

We pay tribute to Police dog Gazza who was tragically shot today. Our thoughts are with his handler and his family. pic.twitter.com/UhRlMdZSGa

— New Zealand Police (@nzpolice) April 22, 2016

Gazza was a four-year-old German shepherd, bred at the Police Dog Training Centre at Trentham.

The police said he graduated as an operational dog in late 2013 with his handler, Constable Josh Robertson.

The dog was choked by an offender earlier last year after tracking him for 3.5 kilometres through Wainuiomata.

They said Gazza and Mr Robertson had been an effective team in Wellington tracking, searching and catching offenders, and would feature in the upcoming series of Dog Squad.