A man arrested today following an armed standoff in the Bay of Plenty has been charged with four counts of using a firearm against a police officer at Whakatane District Court this afternoon.
Rhys Warren, 27, surrendered himself to police this morning after being holed up in a house near Kawerau since yesterday.
He has been remanded in custody until March 24, when he will face the charges at Rotorua District Court.
"We have taken the decision to lay this charge after due consideration, and it is the most appropriate charge for this incident," Bay of Plenty District Commander Andy McGregor said earlier today.
Commander McGregor said they had not ruled out the possibility of laying further charges in the future.
Police believe the alleged gunman used a shotgun and a .22 rifle.
Speaking to the media, Police Commissioner Mike Bush said they were pleased that the matter had been resolved without any more people being harmed, despite four officers receiving injuries during the standoff.
One remains in Waikato Hospital in a serious but stable condition, while two others have been discharged. A fourth officer, shot in the hand, is also in hospital.
Commissioner Bush said he had visited the two more seriously injured police officers in hospital, and says the officer with the head injury is currently undergoing surgery.
"They are currently in the [operating] theatre -- one is more seriously injured, he has a firearm injury to the head and that will be operated on as we speak, and the other officer has firearm wounds to his hand and that is being treated," Commissioner Bush explained.
Meanwhile Commissioner Bush has revealed that police did shoot back at the man after coming under fire themselves.
The man's mother says the family considers themselves lucky the situation was defused.
"We've got a big bridge to get over, that's the next step, but our first step was to try to get involvement and they've allowed that through discussions and negotiations with top-level MPs and also down to police, so we're really lucky."
The standoff began just before 11am yesterday after shots were fired at a police aircraft looking for cannabis. Armed police and dogs arrived on the scene on Onepu Spring Rd at 1pm.
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