roadblock when some customers told her about it.

She said the police had left the scene by about 10pm .



"I'm glad they caught him."

RORY O'SULLIVAN & MURRAY WILSON/Stuff.co.nz A total of six people have been arrested following an extensive manhunt in the Ohakune region.

Police have arrested a man and a woman in Ohakune after an early-morning police chase and shooting. Photo: Murray Wilson.



EARLIER ARRESTS

CARLY THOMAS & STEPH RANGI/Stuff.co.nz Raetihi School principal Nuku Wallace says the safety of his staff and students came first following news of an armed police manhunt in the region.

Earlier two women and a man were arrested in Ohakune after a manhunt that included the armed offenders squad and the police Eagle helicopter.

The manhunt was triggered after a chase in which a police car was rammedand officers shot at from close range at 3.30am Wednesday near Raetihi in the central North Island.

The chase had begun an hour earlier near Whanganui when police had tried to stop a car with a group of four or five people in it who were "acting suspiciously".



Two police officers fled to a neighbouring house after they were shot at. The police car was then stolen.



Schwalger, central district commander, said the suspects were picked up by an associate after the altercation.



After allegedly stealing the police car from officers on the outskirts of Raetihi, Kohu and his associates allegedly ditched it in Tangiwai, Schwalger said.



They then went to a house nearby where they contacted an associate who picked them up in a dark-coloured car.



WHO IS DOLPHY KOHU?



The Department of Corrections