The police say they had no choice but to shoot a man who held children hostage at knife point yesterday.
The standoff started just after midnight on Sunday, when the police say the man's partner escaped from the Bellevue house after he'd threatened her with a knife.
When officers entered the house, they found the man holding a machete to the throat of one of three children he had with him.
They were aged four, six and 11.
Bay of Plenty commander, Andy McGregor, told media last night that one child was freed but two others remained in the house during several hours of exhausting negotiations.
