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David John Bourke - Source: ONE News -
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A massive manhunt continues for a gunman on the run in southern Hawke's Bay.
One man is dead and another wounded while locals have a second night behind locked doors.
Police believe the suspect, David John Bourke, is still hiding in a large rural area near the settlement of Norsewood.
He is a 46-year-old freezing worker from Wanganui.
Police lifted the cordon on State Highway 2 early Monday evening, to enable farmers to tend to their stock. Farmers were able to return to their farms on a case by case basis.
A cordon remains in place on Whenuahou Road where the gunman was shooting at houses on Sunday.
A gunshot was heard within the cordon shortly before 3pm Monday and police have been trying to narrow down where the gunshot came from.
The armed offenders squad moved in on Sunday , searching a vast rural area for the gunman.
He allegedly sped away from police after he failed a breath test on Sunday afternoon.
Glenda Ware radioed police after the gunman crashed his car in front of her house.
"It was pretty scary. I was on the radio, trying to tell police where he was," says Ware.
"A man was just screaming for everyone to get out, a gunman was shooting. He said 'he just shot at police, get out of the house, get out of the house.'"
There have been no sightings of Bourke since farm worker Chad Hinga was shot in the shoulder.
He told TVNZ's Close Up programme about the confrontation.
"He was yelling at us to get out of the car and we just tried to take off, but the truck was a bit too slow and he took a shot and got me," says Hinga.
The gunman went on to fire several shots at houses along Whenuahou Road.
Police believe Bourke is well armed.
"We understand that he has ammunition. When he was last seen at five o'clock last night by the farmers, he was carrying a double-barrel shot gun. We believe he is still in possession of that," says Superintendent Russell Gibson of Central District Police.
Road blocks have been in place and the rural community in lockdown.
Norsewood resident Tristan Brimelow is taking no chances, carrying a rifle and locking up.
Chrissie Brimelow is also on edge.
"It's just not knowing where he is, he could be in the bush behind us or in one of our barns," she says.
It's a frustrating time for many farmers in the area as they are being prevented from milking their cows.
Farmer Alec McGregor says he took keys out of all vehicles and a motorbike so they couldn't be driven.
But in such vast terrain the manhunt could go on for some time.
Even infra red equipped helicopters could not detect the gunman.
Gibson says police are confident the gunman hasn't got out of the cordoned area.
"Last night the weather conditions were atrocious. I'm very confident no one came out through the road blocks. But that's a lot of land in there," he says.
The body found in the car the gunman as driving has been removed from the scene for forensic tests as the search for the armed man continues.
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