A person was critically injured during an assault in a kindergarten carpark in Lincoln, near Christchurch, overnight.
Police said they responded to a report of multiple people fighting late on Wednesday night, but that was not the case by the time officers arrived.
Hato Hone St John was called to the Robert St address shortly before midnight, and took one person to hospital in a critical condition.
A 36-year-old man has been charged with assault.