3rd Ld: Four police officers shot in New Zealand

Four police officers have been shot and injured in an incident in the Bay of Plenty, on the east of New Zealand's North Island, Wednesday, said the New Zealand Police.

The police Armed Offenders Squad is currently at the scene on a rural property near the town of Kawerau.

The four officers had been taken to hospital where they were being treated for their injuries, said the statement.

Police initially said three officers had been shot, but later a fourth officer was found to have received a gunshot wound.

The public are being advised to avoid the area.

Deputy police commissioner Mike Clement said in a broadcast press conference that only one offender was thought to be involved.

The alleged offender was still in a house which had been cordoned off on a road just outside Kawerau.

Police had been in the area in the morning to seize illegal cannabis when the first shots were fired.

All the injured officers were men, he said.

Two were in a stable condition in hospital, the third in a serious but stable condition, and the fourth was receiving treatment for a gunshot wound to a hand. Endit