A group of firefighters and police officers in the New Zealand town of Huntly were pelted by fireworks and paintballs while responding to emergency calls this past weekend.
Stuff NZ reports that Huntly residents described a chaotic scene in which teenagers armed with fireworks and paintball guns were engaged in some mischief late Sunday night before law enforcement and the fire brigade arrived. Once the first responders were on the scene, the teens lined up along a street and fired the explosives and paintballs at the emergency vehicles.
Authorities said the calls reporting fire were not legitimate, which leads them to believe the calls were made to lure the firefighters in for the assault.
"This sort of behavior will not be tolerated and we will be taking serious action," Waikato police Western Area Commander Inspector Andrew Mortimore said. "This is putting the community as a whole at risk."
Huntly Fire Chief Craig Bush said the incident was disappointing.
"They call us out when their bathroom or their kitchen catches fire, then they bloody treat us like that when we're coming to help."
Bush says the mob ranged in age from about 12 to 16 and seemed to be well prepared with some wearing paintball masks and gloves and armed with lighters and backpacks full of fireworks.
"There are people in the community, the parents and guardians, who know what's going on and should be assisting police to identify those responsible and stop this from happening in the future," Mortimore said.
"We will be looking to hold these people accountable."
