Four shots from two of the weapons were fired at the house from their vehicle, three of which hit the house and one went through the rear window of a vehicle parked in the driveway.<\/p>\n
Prosecutor Sophie O\u2019Donoghue said there were four innocent people inside the home who were all at risk of death or serious injury as a result of the men\u2019s actions.<\/p>\n
Josaia Qalovaki (left), Cypress Warren (black sweatshirt), Tiori Edwards (centre) and Francois Teaurima have been sentenced in the Nelson District Court on charges linked to a driveby shooting in Nelson in September 2024, in which a person narrowly avoided being shot in the head while watching TV. Photos \/ Tracy Neal<\/p>\n
Victims \u2018terrified\u2019<\/p>\n
A victim impact statement described occupants as having been \u201cterrified\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne of them could have easily been killed with the indiscriminate shooting that was carried out,\u201d O\u2019Donoghue said.<\/p>\n
All suffered extreme distress and fear, with some leaving the house immediately and unable to return for some time through fear of ongoing harm, Judge Tony Snell said.<\/p>\n
According to a summary of facts, one bullet struck an aluminium window frame in the lounge, another hit the metal fascia of the roof above the lounge and one bullet went through the window into the lounge.<\/p>\n
The bullet passed 30cm above the head of the person watching TV. Three others who lived at the address were in their bedroom, including a 16-year-old.<\/p>\n
Now the four men involved have been sent to prison on charges of unlawfully possessing firearms and explosives, committing a crime <\/a>with a firearm plus taking part in organised crime and threatening a dwelling, following guilty pleas.<\/p>\n O\u2019Donoghue said the men were all members of the gang<\/a>, or associated with it.<\/p>\n Edwards was sentenced on further representative charges of unlawfully possessing a firearm and explosives, plus another charge of possessing methamphetamine<\/a>.<\/p>\n Judge Snell said during the six-hour sentencing that it was never established who carried out the midnight shooting on September 25, 2024, but all were willing participants and all were involved in what could have been a catastrophic outcome.<\/p>\n \u201cThey were civilians in the house and you knew that from your inquiries the day before,\u201d he told Warren while sentencing him.<\/p>\n Pathway to shooting<\/p>\n Edwards and Teaurima travelled to Nelson<\/a> by car and ferry from Wellington<\/a> on the afternoon of September 20, 2024.<\/p>\n Police said all four acted under the umbrella of the King Cobras gang.<\/p>\n Despite claims by Edwards he was not a member of the gang, O\u2019Donoghue said he was seen in photos wearing a gang patch.<\/p>\n Police said on the same ferry crossing, travelling as foot passengers, was another gang associate, David Te\u2019o and his partner. <\/p>\n In the following days, Qalovaki and Warren also made their way to Nelson from Wellington, for what the police believed was to settle the historic drug deal between Te\u2019o and other King Cobras members while in Wellington.<\/p>\n Qalovaki was deported as a 501 from Australia<\/a> for offending between 2013 and 2017, which resulted in him being imprisoned for a total of 10 years.<\/p>\n Judge Snell said Qalovaki had a long period of gang involvement in Australia<\/a>, and after his deportation to New Zealand he relapsed into crime after a \u201clong period of abstinence\u201d.<\/p>\n Police said Edwards and Teaurima tried to find Te\u2019o, who they believed was with his partner at her mother\u2019s Nelson address.<\/p>\n They visited twice on September 24 and were told the pair \u201cdid not live there, were unlikely to visit, and were not welcome\u201d. <\/p>\n The police summary of facts included a long list of text messages among all six, plus others, which contained warnings to Te\u2019o\u2019s partner.<\/p>\n Checked into motel, unloaded bag of guns<\/p>\n On the evening of September 25, 2024, Qalovaki, Warren, Edwards and Teaurima gathered in Nelson and paid cash for a single room at a respectable motel often used by business travellers.<\/p>\n They were captured on CCTV unloading a bag from the vehicle that was later found to contain the three firearms used in the shooting, police said. <\/p>\nA Nelson house was the target of a drive-by shooting over a drug debt “gone wrong”. One bullet went through the window into the lounge and passed above the head of the person watching TV. Photos \/ NZ Police<\/p>\n